MESOP EXCLUSIV : KATI PIRI’S (DUTCH) REPORT TO EU PARLIAMENT ON TURKEY 2015

Full text of the Kati Piri (PES, NL) report on Turkey state of play

European Parliament rapporteur on Turkey’s accession progress Kati Piri (Dutch, PES) in her report on Turkey’s accession negotiations, deplored Turkey´s refusal to fulfil its obligation of full, non-discriminatory implementation of the Additional Protocol to the EC-Turkey Association Agreement vis-a-vis all member states, the fulfillment of which could provide a significant boost to the negotiation process.

In her report, she praises the considerable progress achieved in the reunification talks of Cyprus, under the auspices of the UN Special Envoy; supports, in line with relevant UN Security Council resolutions, the establishment of a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation;

She further praises Turkey for hosting the largest refugee population in the world and for maintaining an open-border policy for Syrian refugees. At the same time Piri stresses that a much stricter visa policy must be applied to third countries in order to curb the influx of economic migrants via Turkey into Europe.Piri expresses deep concern about the deteriorating situation in the South East of Turkey; acknowledges Turkey´s legitimate right to fight against terrorism; stresses, however, that security measures must be conducted with respect for rule of law and human rights.She insists on the need for the Turkish government to show serious progress in the field of rule of law and calls, in this regard, for the delivering of the official opening benchmarks and the subsequent opening of Chapters 23 (judiciary and fundamental rights) and 24 (justice, freedom and security) which is an important step to promote truly effective reforms in Turkey based on EU values and standards.At the same time, Piri deplores the serious backsliding on freedom of expression in Turkey and urges the Turkish government to end the political and economic pressure on independent media.

The full text of the report follows:

  1. The state of play in EU-Turkey relations
  2. Is concerned that the overall pace of reforms in Turkey slowed down and in certain key areas, such as the independence of the judiciary and freedom of expression, there has been a regression;
  3. Welcomes the reinvigoration of the accession process and hopes that concrete progress can be made by opening new negotiation chapters when the benchmarks are met; strongly supports a structured and more frequent high-level dialogue on key thematic issues;
  4. Believes that the postponement of the Commission’s 2015 progress report until after the Turkish elections, was a wrong decision as it gave the impression that the EU is willing to go silent on fundamental rights in return for Ankara´s cooperation on refugees; calls on both the European Commission and the Council to clearly stand up for the rule of law in Turkey, irrespective of other interests;
  5. Takes note of the results of the repeated parliamentary elections held on 1 November 2015 and the formation of a new government; reiterates its call for the 10% parliamentary threshold to be lowered; commends the active participation of civil society volunteers during elections and the high voter turnout; deplores, however, attacks on individual candidates and party offices;
  6. Calls for an upgrade of the customs union by expanding it with agricultural products, services and public procurement;
  7. Respect for the rule of law, democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms
  8. Insists firmly on the need for the Turkish government to show serious progress in the field of rule of law; calls, in this regard, for the delivering of the official opening benchmarks and the subsequent opening of Chapters 23 (judiciary and fundamental rights) and 24 (justice, freedom and security) which is an important step to promote truly effective reforms in Turkey based on EU values and standards;
  9. Deplores the serious backsliding on freedom of expression in Turkey; reiterates that freedom of speech and an independent media are at the core of EU values; calls for the immediate release of all jailed journalists, including Can Dündar and Erdem Gül;
  10. Urges the Turkish government to end the political and economic pressure on independent media; strongly condemns verbal and physical attacks, and the increasing use of defamation and anti-terror legislation against journalists; content bans for online and conventional reporting as well as website blocking; deplores, in particular, the investigations, arrests, prison sentences and punitive fines for allegedly insulting the head of state, based on article 299 of the penal code;
  11. Reiterates its concern about the anti-terrorism law, notably its broad definition of terrorism; insists that criminal and anti-terror legislation needs to be in line with ECtHR case law; Expresses concern about the numerous reassignments, unwilling transfers and dismissals of judges and prosecutors, which put into question the independence, impartiality and efficiency of the judiciary, as well as the respect for the principles of due process and separation of powers;
  12. Takes the view that a new Constitution based on provisions promoting a pluralistic, inclusive and tolerant society would underpin the reform process; underlines that a new constitution should be based on widespread consensus across the political spectrum and in society as a whole;

III. Kurdish peace process and situation in the South East of Turkey

  1. Expresses deep concern about the deteriorating situation in the South East of Turkey; acknowledges Turkey´s legitimate right to fight against terrorism; stresses, however, that security measures must be conducted with respect for rule of law and human rights; Underlines that antiterrorism operations must be proportional and not take the form of collective punishment; condemns the misconduct of special security forces and calls for the perpetrators to be brought to justice;
  2. Condemns the return to violence by the PKK, which is on the EU´s list of terrorist organizations; stresses that there is no violent solution for the Kurdish question and condemns attacks on security forces and civilians; expresses serious concern, in this regard, to the building of barricades and the digging of trenches by YPG-H militants; insists, however, that peaceful protests should be allowed;
  3. Calls on the Turkish authorities to immediately lift the curfews; urges the government to allow the wounded to be taken to hospital, by complying with the interim measures of the ECtHR; is deeply concerned about the rising number of civilian deaths, which need to be thoroughly investigated, and the fact that around 400.000 people became internally displaced; underlines that families must be allowed to retrieve the bodies on the streets and bury them; asks the Turkish government to put in place a formal mechanism for urgent aid and compensation for those who had to flee their homes, lost their livelihoods and became unemployed; regrets the destruction of historical heritage;
  4. Calls for an immediate ceasefire and the peace process to be resumed; urges the EU to take an active role herein; underlines the importance of giving priority to enhancing the social, cultural and political rights and equal treatment of citizens of Kurdish origin;
  5. Deplores the intimidation and prosecution of more than 1,000 academics who signed a petition calling for peace; underlines that the ones responsible for the killing of lawyer Tahir Elci – who dedicated his life to peace and human rights – are brought to justice; Expresses serious concern about the judicial investigations targeting mainly HDP members, as well as the imprisonment and dismissal of local mayors;
  6. Condemns the terrorist attacks by ISIL in Diyarbakir, Suruc, Ankara, and Istanbul; Expresses its solidarity with the victims and their families and with the Turkish people; stresses the importance of conducting thorough investigations into these attacks;
  7. Notes Turkey´s stepping up of its fight against ISIL and urges Turkey to continue to increase efforts to prevent foreign fighters, money and equipment to reach ISIL via its territory;
  8. EU-Turkey cooperation on migration
  9. Praises Turkey for hosting the largest refugee population in the world; Recalls that Turkey is one of the key transit countries for asylum seekers traveling to the EU; stresses the importance of cooperating with Turkey in decreasing the number of migrants arriving in Europe and preventing losses of life at sea; welcomes the EU-Turkey Joint Action Plan on refugees and migration management; stresses, however, that cooperation on migration should not be linked to the accession process,
  10. Stresses that the 3 billion euros, which are part of the Refugee Facility for Turkey, will have to come to the direct benefit of refugees and their host communities; calls on the European Commission to ensure that a mechanism is put in place to check that funds are used adequately; underlines the need to pay special attention to vulnerable groups such as women and children;
  11. Commends the recent decision of the Turkish government to open its labour market for Syrian refugees; encourages more urgent action to ensure that all 700.000 Syrian children receive education; praises the Turkish government for providing Syrian refugees with free health services and education,
  12. Praises Turkey for maintaining an open-border policy for Syrian refugees; Stresses, however, that a much stricter visa policy must be applied to third countries in order to curb the influx of economic migrants via Turkey into Europe; underlines that Turkey needs to further improve its border security and to step up its fight against human smugglers; calls on Frontex to offer its support to the Turkish coast guard and to exchange information;
  13. Underlines that stemming migration to the EU should not lead to push backs of refugees or illegal detention; reiterates its call on Turkey to lift the geographic reservation to the 1951 Geneva Convention; insists that it is crucial to put in place safe and legal routes for refugees and urges member states to substantially increase their resettlement efforts; is of the opinion that the only way to stop the refugee flow into Europe is to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis;
  14. Stresses that implementation of the readmission agreement is crucial for the EU as it provides an opportunity for a more effective return policy of economic migrants who are in no need of international protection; Calls on Turkey, in the meantime, to implement the existing bilateral readmission agreements fully and effectively;
  15. Encourages the government to meet the criteria identified in the visa liberalisation roadmap; recalls that visa liberalisation is a merit-based process and only when the standards have been met, visa free travel will be enabled for Turkish citizens; asks the Commission to provide more technical assistance for the fulfillment of the conditions of the roadmap;
  16. Progress Cyprus reunification talks
  17. Praises the considerable progress achieved in the reunification talks of Cyprus, under the auspices of the UN Special Envoy; supports, in line with relevant UN Security Council resolutions, the establishment of a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation; commends the constructive approach of the leaders of both the Greek and Turkish communities on the island, and their determination and tireless efforts to reach a fair, comprehensive and viable settlement before the end of this year; underlines the importance of the solution of the decades-long Cyprus problem for the whole region, and for Europe;
  18. Welcomes the agreement by the two leaders on a series of confidence building measures, including on the opening of two new border crossings, on the interconnection of the electricity grids, as well as the mobile network unification; calls on the EU to fully support the settlement, both politically and financially; calls on Turkey, and all parties concerned, to actively support the negotiation process and the outcome; calls on Turkey to begin to withdraw its troops from Cyprus and to transfer the sealed-off area of Famagusta to the UN in accordance with UNSC Resolution 550(1984); commends that access is granted for the Committee on Missing Persons to all relevant sites, including military areas;
  19. Welcomes the initiative of President Anastasiades to make Turkish an official language of the EU; notes the need for the implementation of the EU acquis in the future Turkish Cypriot Constituent State upon entry into force of the settlement agreement; welcomes, in this regard, the establishment of the bi-communal ad-hoc committee on EU preparation;
  20. Deplores Turkey´s refusal to fulfil its obligation of full, non-discriminatory implementation of the Additional Protocol to the EC-Turkey Association Agreement vis-a-vis all member states, the fulfilment of which could provide a significant boost to the negotiation process;
  1. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, the President of the European Court of Human Rights, the governments and parliaments of the Member States and the Government and Parliament of the Republic of Turkey. www.mesop.de