18 04 2008 - EP/TURKEY: A NEW REPORT WITHOUT ANY POLITICAL POSITION

Friday, 18 April 2008
EP/TURKEY: A NEW REPORT WITHOUT ANY POLITICAL POSITION
The blockade on Armenia merely mentioned; the Armenian Genocide passed over

The EP Committee on Foreign Affairs will adopt on Monday 21 April its traditional report on Turkey’s “progress”. The members of the Committee will have to look into the draft resolution prepared by Mrs Ria Oomen-Ruijten (Christian-Democrat, Netherlands) and the 262 amendments tabled. Mrs Oomen-Ruijten was also the rapporteur of the resolution adopted last year.

The new preparatory document seems to be less brief than the former one which essentially aimed at exhibiting a gesture of goodwill towards the new elected Turkish government. Nevertheless, it remains well short of European expectations by continuing in minimizing the serious breaches of Turkey.

Thus, in the “external relations” chapter, the draft report “calls on the Turkish government to end the economic blockade and re-open its border with Armenia” but, in accordance with the rest of the document, abstains from condemning Turkey. The Armenian genocide issue is dodged by a wording which “calls on the Turkish and Armenian governments to start a process of reconciliation, in respect of the present and the past, allowing for a frank and open discussion of past events”.

“This wording is typically dictated by Ankara: by refusing to mention the Genocide, it is denialist ; by sending away Turkey and Armenia, the genocide is rooted out from the political scene and from the context of International Law in order to consider it as a tool of the only conflict between a criminal state and its victims”, commented Hilda Tchoboian, the chairperson of the European Armenian Federation.
The Federation reminds us that the position reaffirmed several times by the Parliament from 1987 to 2005 consists in demanding the recognition of the Armenian genocide as a prerequisite for accession. The Federation highlights that the Turkish regimes have never progressed on this issue as on others only under constraints of strong demands, and that any complacency is interpreted by Ankara as a green light given to its State denial in Turkey and even in Europe.

About 6 (mainly from communist and socialist MEPs) out of the 262 amendments tabled deal with Armenian issues, notably with the Armenian Genocide (see below [i]).

In a general point of view, the 2008 edition deals with all the Turkish breaches but by using light and depoliticised wordings: the innumerable lack of progress observed on crucial issues as the State of Law, democracy, protection of minorities or freedom of expression are only considered as “concerns”, “regrets” and “repeated demands”. Only the PKK is formally condemned but without any explanation regarding Turkish State exactions in Kurdistan.

Referring to article 301of the Turkish Penal Code, which penalises freedom of expression, the draft report only asks for a “reform” and “modifications” whereas the European civil society and all Human Rights organizations call for a complete abrogation.

“We believe that this way of proceeding – the one which consists in enumerating the problems in a technocratic manner by refusing to give them a political appreciation – reduces the role of the European Parliament”, continued Hilda Tchoboian. “Doing worse than the European Commission is useless for the Union and its citizens. What Europeans need is a Parliament which is the conscience of Europe”, she concluded.

[i] Some tabled amendments

Amendment 4, Citation 4a (new), Alexandra Dobolyi, PSE

– having regard to its resolution of 18 June 1987 on a political solution to the Armenian question,

Amendment 126, Paragraph 15 a (new), Béatrice Patrie, Martine Roure, Marie-Arlette Carlotti, Harlem Désir, PSE

15a. Condemns the bringing of charges against Turkish writer Temel Demirer for having declared ‘Yes, there was an Armenian genocide in this country’; emphasises that the freedom to express a non-violent opinion and the acknowledgment of dark moments in history are fundamental values of the European Union; urges the Turkish authorities, therefore, to end such prosecutions and to acknowledge the Armenian genocide;

Amendment 201, Paragraph 33, Alexandra Dobolyi, PSE

33. Calls on the Turkish government to end the economic blockade and to re-open its border with Armenia; once again calls on Turkey to refrain from any short-sighted and politically motivated regional energy and transportation projects in the South Caucasus which violate European Neighbourhood Policy principles of sound development; calls once again on Turkish and the Armenian governments to start a process of reconciliation, in respect of the present and the past, allowing for a frank and open discussion of past events; calls on the Commission to facilitate this reconciliation process;

Amendment 202, Paragraph 33, Giulietto Chiesa, PSE
33. Calls on the Turkish government to end the economic blockade and to re-open its border with Armenia; calls once again on the Turkish government to start a process of recognition, allowing for a frank and open discussion of the Armenian genocide; calls on the Commission to facilitate this recognition process;

Amendment 203, Paragraph 33, Béatrice Patrie, Martine Roure, Marie-Arlette Carlotti, Harlem Désir, PSE

33. Calls on the Turkish government to end the economic blockade and to re-open its border with Armenia; calls once again on the Turkish government to start a process of recognition, in respect of the present and the past, allowing for a frank and open discussion of the Armenian genocide; calls on the Commission to facilitate this recognition process;

Amendment 205, Paragraph 33, Maria Eleni Koppa, PSE
33. Calls on the Turkish government to end the economic blockade and to re-open its border with Armenia; calls once again on Turkish and the Armenian governments to start a process of reconciliation, in respect of the present and the past, calls for the holding of a frank and open discussion of the genocides of the Armenians, Pontians and other nations and ethnic groups; calls on the Commission to facilitate this reconciliation process;
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