Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-28-Speech-3-027"
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"en.20050928.3.3-027"2
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"Mr President, just before the planned start to the negotiations, the relationship between Europe and Turkey is going through a very rocky patch, first of all as a result of a counter-declaration from Turkey that the Commission tried to prevent at all costs, but secondly because Turkey’s perception of what would be needed in order to join the European Union is incompatible with the rules of the club. They perceive things differently.
That is why at the moment, what we need, above all else, is clarity – clarity about what the rules are and what should happen, and that is why I welcome our joint resolution, for it is bringing us exactly that. It stipulates that the recognition of Cyprus is not negotiable. That country must be recognised as soon as possible; if not, serious consequences may follow. That is what we in this House believe and that is what we should stick to. Mr Schulz mentioned a timeframe of one or two years; so it would be unacceptable even for the Socialists if Cyprus were not recognised in two years’ time, and that is something of which we have taken note.
Secondly, clear language is also spoken with regard to the implementation of the Protocol. That should be set down right at the beginning of the negotiations in 2006; if not, this may have serious consequences. With this in mind, I would add that there is another side to this. Europe must take responsibility for encouraging the UN to reconcile the two parties in Cyprus. Last weekend, I spoke with the two leaders of both factions, but they had not seen each other in years. We should at the very least press the UN to send someone out there to talk to both parties. Anything else really would be an admission of weakness.
Thirdly, as regards the legal position of the declaration, the Commissioner is right in saying that it has no legal meaning for us, but Mr Brok and Mr Poettering are also right to say that we have a problem if the Turkish Parliament uses it as part of the ratification. Mr Schulz argues that, if Turkey uses it for the ratification, we must cease negotiations forthwith. How can he claim such a thing if he wants the process with Turkey to go well? I hope that the Commissioner will soon be able to confirm that Turkey is not making ratification dependent on it. Should Turkey do so anyway, it would be preferable for Parliament to keep in check, and suspend the whole process, so that we can exert maximum pressure to ensure that Turkey does not go down that undesirable route and avoids problems rather than, as Mr Schulz says, us maybe having to call the whole thing off in two months’ time.
The resolution is also very clear about how we should deal with the negotiations in time. Whilst Turkey has, apparently, formally met the starting conditions, I would add that the new acts are problematic, because Articles 301 and 305 of the penal code ensure that Orhan Pamuk can be persecuted, a judge can call off an Armenian conference, and I am delighted that Prime Minister Erdogan has spoken out so clearly during the conference, also with regard to the Kurdish issue. That is courageous.
In order to really solve problems, though, those laws need amending, including the law on religious minorities, which is not worthy of a country that wants to be part of Europe. It can never be right that priests cannot be trained there after years of promises, and that churches are still being taken from the people. That is why I welcome the use of the word ‘deadline’ in this resolution. If we take the priority as regards political criteria seriously, we must be so bold as to set clear deadlines and warn them that they have one or two years to put matters right; otherwise, we cannot move forward.
Last, but not least, the resolution makes explicit reference to absorption capacity. Europe’s capacity to absorb a large country such as Turkey will need to go hand in hand with a constitution and financial arrangements, but above all, the man and woman in the street will need to be persuaded. That is for Turkey to do by means of good campaigns and real reforms, but there is also something for this House to do – not only speaking clear language in this resolution, but also by delivering on that language in the years to come."@en1
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