KurdistanObserver.com

EU Hails Turkish Economy, Warns On Torture, Rights

By Sebastian Alison

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Nov 9, 2005- The European Commission awarded candidate nation Turkey the coveted status of a "functioning market economy" for the first time on Wednesday but warned that stronger action was required to stamp out torture.

A report issued by the European Union executive said Turkey could be regarded as a functioning market economy "as long as it firmly maintains its recent stabilisation and reform achievements".

Market economy status should ease the start of talks on economic aspects of Turkey's path to EU accession, seen as a long-term process expected to take a decade or more, and could boost financial market confidence and attract investment.

But EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said the pace of political reform had slowed since the bloc decided in December to open membership talks with Ankara. Cases of torture continued to be reported, non-Muslim religious minorities still had problems, and violence against women was a serious concern.

"We expect Turkey will ensure implementation of measures adopted in the context of a zero tolerance policy on torture," he told a news conference.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said in a speech that there were "some criticisms in the report that we don't agree with. But we should look at the bigger picture, which after the status change (accession talks) has meant a great deal to Turkey."

Rehn highlighted the need for Turkey to bring its laws on freedom of expression into line with EU standards and to address problems of people prosecuted or convicted for their views.

"This is an obvious reference to the case of the novelist Orhan Pamuk, who is prosecuted for the expression of non-violent opinion," he said. "This is a very important priority for Turkey to tackle in the short term."

He was referring to Turkey's most famous novelist, to be tried next month for allegedly insulting the state with comments on Turkey's role in killings of Armenians and Kurds.

KURDISH CONCERNS

Ankara, which has been seeking EU membership for over 40 years, finally began entry talks on October 3, despite last-minute objections from Austria and widespread public misgivings over accepting such a populous, poor, overwhelmingly Muslim nation.

Rehn said that overall, Turkey continued to meet the EU's stringent political conditions for accession negotiations.

But the EU strategy paper raised concerns over the treatment of Turkey's large Kurdish minority. Kurds face discrimination in many fields, especially the use of their language and culture.

"No local broadcasting in Kurdish has yet been authorised, Kurdish language courses have been closed down and politicians continue to be convicted for using the Kurdish language in certain contexts," the report said.