European Parliament to debate Turkey report

Penned by Dutch Rapporteur Camiel Eurlings, the report urges Ankara to speed up its reform process as well as enhance freedoms and religious and minority rights, civilian-military relations, women's rights, cultural rights, the independence of the judiciary and the implementation of the reforms.

Touching on a shadowy bombing targeting a bookstore in the southeastern Anatolian town of ?emdinli in which two noncommissioned officers and a former member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) were involved, the report said developments in the aftermath of the ?emdinli affair had highlighted the role of the military in politics.

The prosecutor of the case was sacked after suggesting in his indictment that then Land Forces Commander Gen. Ya?ar B?y?kan?t was involved in an organized effort to derail Turkey's EU process. The report said the dismissal of Van Prosecutor Ferhat Sar?kaya from his post was a "source of deep concerns."

Under the title of southeastern Anatolia, the report strongly condemned the terrorist attacks launched by the outlawed PKK, stressing that Europe was in solidarity with Turkey in its fight against terrorism.

The report cited the government's call for a democratic solution to the Kurdish problem, describing Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an's key speech in the southeastern Anatolian province of Diyarbak?r earlier this year as "encouraging." Erdogan had pledged to resolve the Kurdish issue with more reforms and greater democratization.

The report also condemned an attack in May against the Council of State by an armed assailant who shot one judge dead and wounded four others.

Advising the government to reduce the 10 percent threshold required to secure seats in Parliament, the report said that would open the way for broader representation in the Turkish Parliament. The report also said a new constitution drafted in line with EU reforms might be needed.

The European Parliament's report welcomed the EU-inspired Ninth Harmonization Package, which has not yet been enacted as Parliament is currently in summer recess. The report suggested that Ankara's new antiterror law exclude elements that restrict fundamental rights and freedoms.

"Modern, democratic and secular Turkey could play a constructive role in the better understanding between civilizations," the report said. It called on Ankara to normalize its ties with its neighbor Armenia.

Turkey severed its relations with Armenia and closed its border after Armenian troops occupied the Azeri territory of Nagorno Karabakh. Ankara now says normalization of ties depends on Armenian withdrawal from Nagorno Karabakh as well as on progress in resolution of a series of bilateral disagreements. The report urged Ankara to reopen its border gate with Armenia.

More than 300 motions submitted by political groups at the European Parliament seeking amendments to the report will also be debated at today's meeting at the Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee. The report will be discussed once again at meetings in Strasbourg in late September and put to a vote.

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