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| EMHRN appeals to the EU to open the door to Turkey | Date: 26-11-2004 |
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EMHRN appeals to the EU to open the door to Turkey The democratic forces in Turkey need support in their fight for increased democracy and respect of human rights. Opening negotiations for Turkey's membership of the European Union would constitute an important step and send a signal of support. Even if many improvements are still needed, especially regarding the implementation of reforms and the fight against impunity in torture cases, progress has been made during the last few years. This is mainly due to EU pressure on the Turkish authorities in the framework of the pre-accession negotiations and to the perspective of future accession. Human rights' activists, women's rights groups, journalists, writers, the Kurdish minority and many others have experienced and reported historical advances compared with former times of suppression. People in Turkey risk to face serious set backs in these positive developments if the European Union turns its back to Turkey. Turkey should not be excluded from EU membership on any other grounds than its non-compliance with the Copenhagen Accession Criteria. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network therefore welcomes the recommendation of the European Commission to open accession negotiations with Turkey with a possible suspension in case of a serious and persistent breach of the principles of democracy, respect for human rights, and the rule of law. The advancement of negotiations on economic matters and the EU acquis should be made dependant on progress in the human rights chapter. The EMHRN appeals to the European Union to decide to begin negotiations in 2005 with Turkey regarding its accession to the EU on the basis of compliance with the Copenhagen criteria, with a clear priority for the full respect of human rights, democratic principles, women's rights and minorities' rights. For further information please contact: Marit Floe Joergensen, Information Officer or Sandrine Grenier, Brussels Coordinator Tel: +45-32 69 89 12 / Fax: +45-32 95 65 54 Tel/fax: 00 32 (0)2/ 513 37 97 E-mail: info@euromedrights.net E-mail:sgrenier@euromedrights.net |
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