"EU's Turkey report goes to vote
EU's Turkey report goes to vote
The European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs will vote on the Turkey report today. The report, preparedRehn: Turkey to join the EU within 10-15 years
EU Commissioner for enlargement Olli Rehn said German Die Welt daily that he expected Turkey to join the EU within 10-15 years in case it maintained reforms firmly. Rehn said the EU was planning to open two new chapter headings with Turkey in June.... Another EU voice in support of the AKP
Amid heated discussions on the closure case filed against the country's ruling party, and mere hours after the parliamentary body of the Council of Europe issued its much-debated declaration on theBusted! No escape from democracy in Europe
CENGİZ ÇANDARAustria says Turkey should be open to alternatives to full EU membership - International Herald Tribune
Austria says Turkey's EU membership talks should go ahead : Europe World
Turkish Uncertainties
As a true transition country Turkey is full of puzzles. Its elitist secular bourgeoisie, including the military, blocks internal reforms and is lukewarm about an eventual EU membership. It defends its privileged place in Turkish society. The more religious middle class is the driving force behind overdue political and social changes, which an Islamic party pursuesTurkey to play key role in Balkans if accepted into EU
If accepted into the big European family, Turkey will play an important role in the currently unstable Balkans, Sofia news agency quoted EU Affairs Minister Gergana Grancharova as sayingArticle 301: Accusation, But No Defense
Under the proposed changes to Article 301 (see my April 19 post), the approval of the justice minister will be necessary for a prosecutor to proceed with a 301-related investigation. If the justice minister does not allow a 301-related probe, the accused might not have legal difficulties, but could still face social pressure for having allegedly insulted the Turkish nation. In the past, those accused under the law have still received threats from ultra-nationalists, even if their cases were dropped. The new proposed version of Article 301 would make it impossible for the accused to defend themselves in court if the justice minister does not agree to continue with the case.
Yusuf Kanlı: 301 reform... Really?
The text was cleared by the parliamentary justice commission last week after a 13-hour-long heated debate between parliamentarians that followed a “democratic resistance” by a group of newsmen, photo-reporters and cameramen against the police director of Parliament trying to kick them out of the commission's meeting room. This event was important and indeed unveiled the “democracy understanding” of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)… The commission was to discuss presumably how to restrict the scope of a law considered by the opponents as a “chain on free thought,” while the police was trying to prevent journalists from covering the debates and providing the nation with new[MONDAY TALK]Academic says Turkey should start customs union with EU in agriculture
Eser Karakaş, a professor of economics and head of Bahçeşehir University’s European Union division, has said Turkey could find a permanent solution to the approaching food crisis in a customs union agreement with the EU on agricultural products and services.