EU parliament discusses worsening rule of law in Turkey report

The European Parliament is currently discussing the first draft of its annual progress report on Turkey and has vehemently criticized the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) for backtracking on the fundamental rights and reforms essential for Turkey's EU bid as well as the deteriorating state of judicial independence. Members of the European Parliament convened a session to discuss the Turkey report on Tuesday. Press freedom, worsening individual liberties and rights and the erosion of the rule of law in the face of constant government interference in judicial affairs are among topics that were discussed during the session. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been the primary focus of criticism for his clear violation of the Constitution, which states that the president must be impartial and above partisan politics. Erdoğan's meddling in the government's day-to-day policies has also drawn sharp criticism from opposition parties, liberals and critics in Turkey, adding fuel to ongoing debates regarding the role and legal status of the president. While Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu's name was not mentioned in the debate, MEPs made it clear that they were holding Erdoğan responsible for the deterioration of democratic standards. Contributing to the debate held at the Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET) of the European Parliament on Tuesday, MEPs confirmed that the sensitive word “accession” would not appear in this year's report. One of the recurrent points of criticism was the Turkish government's reaction to Pope Francis' labeling of the 1915 killings of Ottoman Armenians as genocide and the strong criticism of countries that subsequently recognized the killings as genocide. The debate on the draft -- which was written by Dutch Socialist Kati Piri -- highlighted the European Parliament's concerns about the erosion of liberties and was also marked by Greek Cypriot MEPs' insistence on changing the draft in their favor. Speaking at the debate, the shadow rapporteurs of each political group agreed that developments concerning the freedom of expression and press were worrying and many of them accused Erdoğan and the AK Party government of taking Turkey away from EU norms. While MEPs praised Turkey's efforts to host almost 2 million Syrian refugees, they also welcomed the election of Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Akıncı, with whom Erdoğan quickly picked a fight as soon as he was elected. Now even judges are being arrested The president of the Greens in the European Parliament, who attended the meeting on Turkey, underlined that the party was “extremely concerned” over developments in Turkey, stressing that not only journalists and critical voices are being arrested but now judges as well. Referring to Judges Metin Özçelik and Mustafa Başer, who were arrested due to their decision to release Hidayet Karaca, the chairman of the Samanyolu Broadcasting Group who has been imprisoned since Dec. 14 of last year, Rebecca Harms said the existing realities on the ground in Turkey were “extremely worrying.” Also blaming the EU for its treatment of Turkey, Harms said Brussels should acknowledge its fair share of responsibility. She added that the report -- which is expected to be voted on at the end of May -- should reflect clearly and objectively the negative developments in the country. Piri, the European Parliament's rapporteur on Turkey, said she agreed with the assessment that liberties were backsliding and stressed that the country's recent internal security package was a cause for serious concern. The draft will be put to a vote on May 11 at the AFET before being submitted to the European Parliament for a general vote in a plenary session at the end of May.