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12 November 2007

EU. and. Turkey. 12 November 2007. Dr. Uğur Aker Hiram College. Short History. Turkey signed an association agreement with EEC (first step to membership) in 1963. Czech Republic signed an association agreement in 1993. Turkey submitted a formal application for membership in 1987.

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12 November 2007

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  1. EU and Turkey 12 November 2007 Dr. Uğur Aker Hiram College

  2. Short History • Turkey signed an association agreement with EEC (first step to membership) in 1963. • Czech Republic signed an association agreement in 1993. • Turkey submitted a formal application for membership in 1987. • Poland and Hungary applied in 1994.

  3. Short History • Customs Union started in 1996 and completed in 2001. • Industrial goods between Turkey and EU are free from tariffs and quantitative restrictions. • Turkey has aligned its trade policies with the EU.

  4. Short History • The Helsinki European Council of 1999 granted the status of candidate country to Turkey. • Cooperation for adopting the legal framework (acquis communautaire). • Turkey became the only candidate for membership without a timetable.

  5. Short History • In Nice (2000) a revision of vote distribution excluded Turkey, implying that EU-15 did not plan for Turkey to become a member in the foreseeable future.

  6. Short History • The Progress Report in 2002 stated that Turkey did not fulfill the Copenhagen (1993) criteria of political and human rights. • Political and human rights: “stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities.”

  7. Copenhagen Criteria • 2003 Progress Report: Economic criteria fulfilled. • Progress Report in October 2004 acknowledged fulfillment of the political and human rights criteria.

  8. Short History • “Major political developments in the country led to the decision to open accession negotiations at the December 2004 European Council summit.” ROMANO PRODI, THE PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Ankara, 14 January 2004 • Accession negotiations were opened in October 2005.

  9. Short History • More alignment between EU and Turkish legal systems took place during 3 years between 2003 and 2005 than the past dozen years.

  10. “[Former] President Sezer exercised his right of veto on several laws related to political reforms, notably the law on the Ombudsman, the law on Foundations, and the law on private education institutions. The President also appealed to the Constitutional Court against the law on the Ombudsman. Strained relations between the President and the government contributed to slowing work on political reforms.

  11. Major recessions in 1989 (-4%), in 1994 (-10%), in 1999 (-10%), and In 2001 (-12%).

  12. Growth Rates • Between 1970 and 2001 the average annual growth rate for the economy was around 4%. • Between 1991 and 2001 the average annual growth rate was 3.2% - one-fifth lower than the 30-year average. • Since 2002, the growth rate has been around 7%.

  13. Average Annual Inflation • 20% in the 1970s. • 35-40% in the early 1980s. • 60-65% in the late 1980s and early 1990s. • 90% before the disinflation program in late 1990s.

  14. Annual CPI and Targets

  15. Trade • In 2006, the EU-Turkey trade reached 85 billion euros, making Turkey EU’s seventh largest trading partner.

  16. 2007 Election 99 representatives INDEPENDENTS DSP13 representatives 26 milletvekili DTP20 representatives BBP1 representative ODP1 representative The winners of 1999 election had no Representatives elected in 2002. The winner of the 2002 election (AKP 34.3%) raised its percentage to 46.7%. The main opposition CHP received 19.4% in 2002 and 20.9% in 2007.

  17. “…the armed forces continued to exercise significant political influence. Senior members of the armed forces have stepped up their public Comments on domestic and foreign policy questions including Cyprus, secularism and Kurdish issues. On a number of occasions, the General Staff reacted publicly to government statements or decisions. The General Staff directly interfered with the April 2007 presidential election by publishing a memorandum on its website expressing concern at the alleged weakening of secularism in the country. There were several attempts from senior members of the armed forces to restrict academic research and public debate in Turkey, in particular on security and minority rights issues.”

  18. Headscarf Use Surveys held in May 2003 And September 2007.

  19. Headscarf Use

  20. …the prosecution and conviction for the expression of non-violent opinions under certain provisions of the Turkish Criminal Code are a cause of serious concern. The number of persons prosecuted almost doubled in 2006 compared with in 2005), and there was a further increase in the number of prosecutions in 2007. More than half of these charges were brought under the Criminal Code, and in particular under article 301, which penalises insulting "Turkishness", the Republic and the organs and institutions of the state. The restrictive jurisprudence established in 2006 by the Court of Cassation on article 301 remains in force. Against this background, article 301 needs to be brought in line with the relevant EU standards.

  21. Four Variables Complete Free Markets Complete Government Control Fiercely Secular Fundamentalist Religious Decentralized Political Power Centralized Political Power National Sovereignty Globalization

  22. Position of Different Groups GOVERNMENT CONTROL FREE MARKETS SECULAR RELIGIOUS SECULAR RELIGIOUS DE- CENT SOV ER EIGN TY CENT DE-CENT GLO BAL IZA TION CENT

  23. Position of Different Groups GOVERNMENT CONTROL FREE MARKETS SECULAR RELIGIOUS SECULAR RELIGIOUS DE- CENT SOV ER EIGN TY Justice and CENT Development Party DE-CENT GLO BAL IZA TION (AKP) Party in Power CENT

  24. Position of Different Groups GOVERNMENT CONTROL FREE MARKETS SECULAR RELIGIOUS SECULAR RELIGIOUS DE- CENT SOV ER EIGN TY CENT DE-CENT Anatolian Tigers GLO BAL IZA TION CENT

  25. Position of Different Groups GOVERNMENT CONTROL FREE MARKETS SECULAR RELIGIOUS SECULAR RELIGIOUS DE- CENT SOV ER EIGN TY Military CENT DE-CENT GLO BAL IZA TION CENT

  26. Position of Different Groups GOVERNMENT CONTROL FREE MARKETS SECULAR RELIGIOUS SECULAR RELIGIOUS DE- CENT SOV ER EIGN TY Nationalist Action Party –MHP CENT DE-CENT GLO BAL IZA TION CENT

  27. Position of Different Groups GOVERNMENT CONTROL FREE MARKETS SECULAR RELIGIOUS SECULAR RELIGIOUS DE- CENT SOV ER EIGN TY Republican People’s P. CHP CENT DE-CENT GLO BAL IZA TION CENT

  28. Position of Different Groups GOVERNMENT CONTROL FREE MARKETS SECULAR RELIGIOUS SECULAR RELIGIOUS DE- CENT SOV ER EIGN TY Workers’ Party - IP CENT DE-CENT GLO BAL IZA TION CENT

  29. Position of Different Groups GOVERNMENT CONTROL FREE MARKETS SECULAR RELIGIOUS SECULAR RELIGIOUS DE- CENT SOV ER EIGN TY Felicity Party SP CENT DE-CENT GLO BAL IZA TION CENT

  30. Position of Different Groups GOVERNMENT CONTROL FREE MARKETS SECULAR RELIGIOUS SECULAR RELIGIOUS DE- CENT SOV ER EIGN TY CENT DE-CENT GLO BAL IZA TION Westernized Human Rights Proponents CENT

  31. Position of Different Groups GOVERNMENT CONTROL FREE MARKETS SECULAR RELIGIOUS SECULAR RELIGIOUS DE- CENT SOV ER EIGN TY CENT DE-CENT GLO BAL IZA TION Rural, Traditional Kurdish Population – CENT

  32. In December 2006, of a total of 33 reports the Council stopped negotiations on eight chapters in response to Turkey’s refusal to extend Association Agreement to the Republic of Cyprus. The Council also halted any closure of chapters under negotiation. Negotiations are already closed on Science and Research chapter and are continuing on three others: Industrial Policy, Statistics, Financial Control. Two more chapters are being discussed in the Council while five remain to be delivered by the Commission to the Council. EU also informed Turkey about the progress needed to reach a satisfactory level of preparedness on 14 chapters.

  33. During the reporting period, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has delivered a total of 330 judgements finding that Turkey had violated at least one article of the ECHR. The total number of new applications to the ECtHR from 1 September 2006 to 31 August 2007 is higher than the same period last year. More than two thirds of these new applications refer to the right to a fair trial and the protection of property rights. The right to life and the prohibition of torture are referred to in a number of cases. Past reforms have had positive consequences on the execution of ECtHR judgements. During the reporting period, the Committee of Ministers closed several cases such as the ECtHR judgements for convictions under the former article 8 (freedom of expression) of the Anti- Terror Law, and cases on the dissolution of political parties.

  34. The legislative safeguards introduced by the zero tolerance policy on torture continue to have positive effects. The downward trend in the number of reported cases of torture and ill treatment was confirmed. The fight against impunity of human rights violations remains an area of concern. There is a lack of prompt, impartial and independent investigation into allegations of human rights violations by members of security forces. Furthermore, judicial proceedings into allegations of torture and ill-treatment are often delayed by the lack of efficient trial procedures or abuse of such procedures.

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