EU progress report on Turkey released

The EU yesterday released its latest progress progress report on Turkey. In its report, the EU has urged Turkey to adopt a new constitution as soon as possible to solve the country's problems, while expressing concerns over freedom of expression. Stating that the General Staff have generally refrained from exerting direct or indirect pressure on political issues, the report said that several symbolic steps have been taken toward further democratization of civil-military relations. The EU Commission report also put forth growing concerns over Turkey's lack of significant progress towards fully meeting the political criteria. However, it welcomed the positive steps that have been taken in terms of participatory work on a new constitution, the adoption of the law on the ombudsman institution and the improvements in the Turkish criminal justice system which was introduced through the 3rd judicial reform package. Concerning the fight against discrimination, the report said further efforts were required regarding the issue, adding that the Kurdish issue is still a key challenge for Turkey's democracy. Furthermore, the report made a positive evaluation of Turkey's progress on cultural rights and welcomed the introduction of parliamentary oversight of the defense budget as a positive development.