Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-18-Speech-2-342"
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"en.20081118.30.2-342"2
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"Madam President, may I reply to Mrs Harkin by telling her that the Council attaches great importance, as it has demonstrated on several occasions, to the question of religious freedom in Turkey.
The specific case to which Mrs Harkin refers is still under examination by the Turkish courts, and it is not for me to comment at this stage, but we are monitoring this case very closely.
In general terms, your question relates to religious freedom in Turkey. This is a very important subject, and there is an urgent need for Turkey to make progress and adopt concrete measures with a view to establishing a proper judicial framework. These matters are constantly being raised by the European Union in the context of its dialogue with Turkey and were specifically addressed at the last meeting of the EU-Turkey Association Council on 27 May 2008. On that occasion, while noting the Turkish Government’s declared intention and renewed undertaking to pursue the reform process and tackle the existing shortcomings, the European Union emphasised the need for such undertakings to be translated quickly into effective concrete measures.
Some advances are observable: Turkey has taken action, for example by adopting amendments to the law governing foundations in February 2008. Thanks to these amendments, the ban on foreigners establishing foundations in Turkey has been lifted, and the principle of reciprocity now applies.
In spite of these commendable features of the law governing foundations, however, there is still a need to resolve the numerous difficulties that religious communities and minorities continue to experience, particularly as regards their legal status and, I must stress, their property rights.
Accordingly, the question of religious freedom was raised once again in the framework of the political dialogue at the ministerial meeting in Brussels on 15 September, and the Council can assure Mrs Harkin that it will continue to monitor very closely the issue of religious freedom, including the implementation of the new law governing foundations, and that it will raise this matter with the Turkish authorities at every level at which it sees fit to do so.
Unfortunately, I have just learned that Mr Posselt actually asked the question. That is not what I had on my sheet of paper, and I do apologise, Madam President."@en1
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