Ankara blasts "one-sided" EP Turkey report

The Foreign Ministry on Wednesday responded harshly to the European Parliament's 2010 progress report on Turkey, which made criticisms concerning press freedom, fair trials and prolonged detention periods in Turkey. The report contains elements that are one-sided and incompatible with the truth, and thus are unacceptable to Turkey, said the ministry in a statement. The report, approved this week by the EP's Foreign Affairs Committee, welcomed changes under a constitutional referendum passed last year but at the same time criticized lack of progress on the Ergenekon and Sledgehammer coup investigations as well as recent arrests of some journalists under Ergenekon. The statement said Turkey expects the EP to be fair and objective in its evaluation of Turkey. According to the statement, progress reports should be designed to urge negotiating countries to take required measures for full European Union membership, but the report on Turkey fails to do that.