MEPs Slam Turkey For Slow Progress In Pre-Accession Reforms

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

29 September 2006

In adopting a report on Turkey's progress towards EU accession, MEPs stated on Wednesday that they were critical of the slowdown in the reform process.

Relations with Cyprus and Armenia, as well as restrictions on freedom of expression and religion, figured prominently in the report (adopted by 429 votes in favour to 71 against, with 125 abstentions).

However, MEPs welcomed some recent steps by the Turkish government in the fields of combating torture, fighting corruption and extending women's rights.

The report reiterated the European Parliament's stance that negotiations with Turkey are an "open-ended process", and do not lead a priori and automatically to accession, while recalling that "the EU's capacity to absorb Turkey while maintaining the momentum of integration is an important consideration in the general interest of both the EU and Turkey".

MEPs called on the government in Ankara to recognize the Republic of Cyprus, withdraw its forces from the island and lift its embargo on Cypriot vessels and aircraft. The report reminded Turkey that a lack of progress in implementing the Ankara protocol "will have serious implications for the negotiation process, and could even bring it to a halt".

It also called on Turkey to refrain from "tension-prone military activities."

The European Commission, meanwhile, announced last week that the publication of its next annual report on Turkey's progress towards accession will be delayed by two weeks, until November 8.

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