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In a new report card, the European Commission will tell Turkey on Wednesday that it must work harder to improve women's rights and press freedoms in order to join the European Union. In a speech at an EU-Turkey conference at the European Parliament on Tuesday, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said the report will list several areas that "need to be addressed urgently." "I am thinking, for instance, of the negative atmosphere against the press, or bans of Web sites which are becoming a source of serious concern, (and) efforts are needed to protect women's rights and gender equality," said Rehn. The report card is an eagerly awaited annual event for both proponents and opponents of Turkey's membership in the EU. In Ankara, a Turkish Foreign Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, declined to comment on the report until his government has seen it. The report - which also praises Turkey, according to Rehn - is unlikely to significantly affect the negotiations regarding Turkey's EU membership, which began in 2005 and are expected to last about a decade. For instance, Turkey's entry negotiations cover 35 negotiating areas, including issues from human rights to many economic issues. To date, only eight issues are under negotiation, and the EU has accused Turkey of being too slow on others.
The report's criticism also will not surprise Turkey's population. Turkish courts have blocked access to several Web sites, including the popular video-sharing site YouTube, for allegedly insulting prominent Turks or alleged Kurdish rebel propaganda. Human rights groups also say Turkey does not do enough to protect women. Recently, there has been uproar over a Turkish court's decision to release a journalist accused of raping a 14-year-old girl from prison, on the ground that a psychiatric report concluded that she had not been affected by the abuse. Still, the 2008 report card praises Turkey for making good progress in economic reforms and solidifying trade ties with the EU, Rehn said. Since 1995, trade between the EU and Turkey has almost tripled to -100 billion ($120 billion), according to EU data, and continue to grow. The EU is by far the most important trade partner of Turkey, and Turkey is the EU's seventh biggest trade partner. EU foreign direct investment in Turkey has surged from about -450 million in 2003 to almost -9 billion in 2007, a twenty-fold increase. |
