Independent commission urges fair treatment of turkey's EU bid, plus renewed push for reforms

In its second report on Turkish-European Union relations released in Brussels yesterday, the Independent Commission on Turkey, a group of distinguished former European politicians and senior bureaucrats headed by Nobel laureate and former Finnish President Finland Martti Ahtisaari, urged Turkey-skeptic European leaders to change their stance, while asking Ankara to revive and determinedly pursue its EU reform agenda with an eye to putting Turkish-EU ties back on track. The report criticized EU leaders for slowing down the accession talks and giving the impression they do not want Turkey to join the bloc, thus causing support among the Turkish public for the country's EU accession bid to decline. Examining key developments in Turkish-EU relations and suggesting concrete steps to reinvigorate the accession talks, the report, called "Turkey in Europe: Breaking the Vicious Circle," asserted that combined with growing public resistance to more EU enlargement, fierce opposition from some European politicians towards Turkey's EU accession bid has resulted in falling support in Turkey for EU reforms, posing the threat of a dramatic slowdown or even temporary derailment of the accession talks. The report was critical of countries that have opposed Turkey’s entry and instead offered alternatives to full membership: "Negative attitudes and policies of European leaders are in clear contradiction to all previous EU decisions and commitment. They put in question EU credibility, reliability and the principle of pacta sunt servanda, that agreements are to be honored." Undermining talks in advance by substituting alternatives to the membership goal constitutes a breach of faith with Turkey, stokes up a nationalist backlash in the country, and creates the wider impression that the EU has discriminatory double standards when dealing with a Muslim country, said the report. The report urged European governments to honor their commitments and treat Turkey with the fairness and respect it deserves. Stressing that Turkey is a key geostrategic partner for Europe, particularly due to its regional role and its central location for energy supplies from the Caspian Sea, Central Asia and the Middle East, the report also advised Ankara to renew the reform process, in particular enacting a new constitution, a functioning ombudsman, full freedoms for religious organizations, respect for cultural liberties, and wider freedom of expression. Urging both the Turkish government and the EU to seize the opportunity to press ahead with the reform process and the accession talks in the coming two years without elections in Turkey, the report also suggested comprehensive, consistent and sustained progress toward more democracy at home as the best way to persuade more Europeans of Turkey's EU compatibility. In conclusion, the report said the Independent Commission on Turkey remains convinced of the huge benefits of Turkey's integration with Europe and eventual EU membership. The report called for a solution to the Cyprus issue as soon as possible to avoid a possible deadlock in Turkey's accession talks with the EU while praising what it called brave steps taken by Turkey recently in reconciliation talks with Armenia towards normalized relations. It also praised Ankara's efforts to strengthen democracy in the country in recent years. The commission was formed in 2004 by a group of European policymakers to examine the challenges and opportunities presented by Turkey's possible EU membership through contributing to a more objective and rational debate about it.