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Barzani calls for a Federal Democratic Parliamentary State in Iraq.
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Turks
Back EU Bid, But Leery of More Rights for Kurds: Poll
AFP June 28, 2002 A majority of respondents in a Turkish opinion poll were in favour of the mainly Muslim country joining the European Union, but support for associated reforms to expand the rights of the Kurdish minority was much lower, a survey institute said Friday.The survey, conducted by the influential Turkish Foundation for Social and Economic Studies (TESEV), found that 64 percent would say "yes" if a referendum were held on Turkey's EU membership, while 30 percent would said "no" and six percent did not answer. Support for the need to legalize education and broadcasts in the Kurdish language, under basic EU democracy norms, which have already opened a deep rift in the three-way coalition of Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, was much lower however. Fifty-two percent were against providing education in the Kurdish language and 47 percent said "no" to radio and television broadcasts in Kurdish. On another controversial norm -- the abolition of capital punishment -- 62 percent said they would support such a reform if laws ensured that those sentenced to death remained in prison for life with no chance of being pardoned. Debates over lifting the capital punishment in Turkey are directly linked to the fate of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, the country's public enemy number one, who was sentenced to death for treason in 1999. "The continuation of support for EU membership at this level is meaningful, taking into account the very negative developments and deep uncertainties on the EU issue in recent days," TESEV concluded. The government's Nationalist Action Party (MHP), the second biggest party in parliament, has expressed stiff opposition to the reforms, arguing that they would encourage Kurdish separatism and endanger the country's unity. The MHP stance has led to a deadlock in government efforts to improve Turkey's democratic credentials and catch up with EU standards. The TESEV study also found out that knowledge of EU's basic norms, the Copenhagen criteria, was very low among Turks, standing at 2.7 points out of 10, with 58 percent of the respondents admitting they knew "nothing." Opinion was divided over whether Turkey, the only predominantly Muslim country among EU candidates, had a place in the pan-European bloc, with 49 percent maintaining that the EU was a "Christian club" and 42 percent believing that Muslim countries could also join. Economic prosperity, free movement, improved democracy and decreased corruption were the main benefits Turks expected from EU membership, while they mostly worried that integration with the EU would weaken their religious and national values. Only 17 percent agreed with the MHP that EU membership could strengthen separatist movements. The TESEV study was conducted among 3,060 people in urban and rural regions and had a margin of error of 1.8 percent.
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