Turkey displeased with EC report on EU entry prospects

Turkey displeased with EC report on EU entry prospects

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey likened the European Commission's yearly report on its EU entry prospects to a "camera" which focuses on many areas in the country, urging Brussels to "change the lens."

"There are some balanced points in the report and there are some unbalanced points," Turkey's EU Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis told AFP during an interview at his office in Istanbul.

"If you consider the report to be a photograph of Turkey, what I can say is the model of the camera that took the picture is an old model," said Bagis. "I think it is time for Europe to change the lens because some of the pictures are blurred and need to focus better and some of the places zoomed into are not the actual places," he added. "But this is a report and there are parts that really please me and there are parts that do not please me but it is a report, just a report."

Asked about the parts that did not please him, the minister said the section concerning the government's attitude towards minorities was not "acceptable." "My government has been the most pro-minority government in the history of this country," said Bagis. "But the report says the Turkish government's attitude to minorities has been restricted. There is no way for me to accept this. No other government in Turkey's history has been this forthcoming to help the problems of minorities."

The yearly report also raised concerns about the freedom of expression in Turkey and the arrest of some journalists alleged to be implicated in an illegal organisation to topple Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Bagis said, "Nobody has been arrested in Turkey because of serving as a journalist" but he added "being a journalist doesn't give immunity to people either." "Being a member of the media is not a crime in Turkey. Hundreds, thousands of media members, they all function within the rights and responsibilities of their profession, but if a gentleman or a lady who happens to be a journalist is involved in illegal activity, the fact that he or she is a journalist would not provide her immunity."

The European Commission kept hopes of joining the EU in limbo, notably criticising Ankara for a lack of progress in normalising relations with Cyprus. Turkey has threatened to freeze relations with the EU when Cyprus, a divided Mediterranean island whose Greek Cypriot government it does not recognise, takes over the rotating presidency of the 27-nation bloc in July 2012. Cyprus has been divided along ethnic lines since Turkish troops invaded the island and occupied its northern third in 1974 in response to an Athens-engineered coup in Nicosia aimed at union with Greece.

Bagis said that Cyprus "is being used as a Trojan horse by Israel as well as some circles within the EU." "We haven't opened any chapter for more than a year now and it wouldn't be end of the world if we don't open any chapter in the six months of their so-called presidency," he said, referring to the various EU criteria that have to be met. "But I sincerely hope that there will be a united island and we will be able to make Turkish-EU relations flourish under the presidency of the United States of Cyprus," he added.

Asked if Turkey would leave the table if no solution can be found, the minister said: "No, not at all. It was a unanimous (EU) council decision to start the negotiations and only a unanimous council decision could end the negotiations."

Asked if Turkey was still willing to join the EU," Bagis replied: "More than ever", AFP reported.

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