2003 REGULAR REPORT ON TURKEY'S PROGRESS TOWARDS ACCESSION {COM(2003) 676 final}

A. Introduction

1. Preface

2. Relations between the EU and Turkey

Recent developments under the Association Agreement, including bilateral trade

Community assistance

Detailed legislative scrutiny

Twinning

B. Criteria for membership

1. Enhanced political dialogue and political criteria

1.1 Recent developments

1.2 Democracy and the rule of law

The parliament

The executive

National Security Council

The judicial system

Anti-corruption measures

1.3 Human rights and the protection of minorities

Civil and political rights

Economic, social and cultural rights

Minority rights and the protection of minorities

1.4 Cyprus

1.5 Peaceful settlement of border disputes

1.6 General evaluation

2. Economic criteria

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Economic developments

2.3 Assessment in terms of the Copenhagen criteria

2.4 General evaluation

3. Ability to assume the obligations of membership

3.1 Chapters of the acquis

Chapter 1: Free movement of goods

Chapter 2: Free movement of persons

Chapter 3: Freedom to provide services

Chapter 4: Free movement of capital

Chapter 5: Company law

Chapter 6: Competition Policy

Chapter 7: Agriculture

Chapter 8: Fisheries

Chapter 9: Transport

Chapter 10: Taxation

Chapter 11: Economic and Monetary Union

.Chapter 12: Statistics

Chapter 13: Social Policy and Employment

Chapter 14: Energy

Chapter 15: Industrial policy

Chapter 16: Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

Chapter 17: Science and research

Chapter 18: Education and training

Chapter 19: Telecommunications and information technology

Chapter 20: Culture and audio-visual policy

Chapter 21: Regional Policy and co-ordination of structural instruments

Chapter 22: Environment

Chapter 23: Consumer and health protection

Chapter 24: Co-operation in the field of justice and home affairs

Chapter 25: Customs Union

Chapter 26: External relations

Chapter 27: Common foreign and security policy

Chapter 28: Financial control

Chapter 29: Financial and budgetary provisions

3.2 General evaluation

C. Conclusion

D. Accession Partnership: global assessment

Human rights conventions ratified by the candidate countries

Statistical annex

A. INTRODUCTION

1. Preface

The European Council in Cardiff in June 1998 noted that the Commission would present a report on Turkey based on Article 28 of the Association Agreement and the conclusions of the Luxembourg European Council of December 1997. The Commission presented its first Regular Report on Turkey in October 1998, together with the Regular Reports for the other candidate countries.

The Helsinki European Council meeting in December 1999 concluded that:

"Turkey is a candidate State destined to join the Union on the basis of the same criteria as applied to the other candidate States. Building on the existing European Strategy, Turkey, like other candidate States, will benefit from a pre-accession strategy to stimulate and support its reforms."

As part of the pre-accession strategy, the Commission reports regularly to the European Council on progress made by each of the candidate countries in preparing for membership. Consequently, the Commission has published a series of yearly Regular Reports on Turkey, covering the years 1998 to 2002.

It is therefore appropriate to produce a Regular Report this year on Turkey's progress towards accession, on the same basis as in previous years.

The structure followed for this Regular Report is largely the same as that used in previous years. The present Report:

- describes the relations between Turkey and the Union, in particular in the framework of the Association Agreement;

- analyses the situation in respect of the political criteria set by the 1993 Copenhagen European Council (democracy, rule of law, human rights, protection of minorities);

- assesses Turkey's situation and prospects in respect of the economic criteria defined by the Copenhagen European Council (a functioning market economy and the capacity to cope with competitive pressures and market forces within the Union);

- addresses the question of Turkey's capacity to assume the obligations of membership, that is, the acquis as expressed in the Treaties, the secondary legislation, and the policies of the Union. In this part, special attention is paid to nuclear safety standards, which were emphasised by the Cologne and Helsinki European Councils. This part includes not only the alignment of legislation, but also the development of the judicial and administrative capacity necessary to implement and enforce the acquis. The European Council stressed the importance of this latter aspect at its meeting in Madrid in 1995 and on a number of subsequent occasions, most recently in Copenhagen in December 2002. At Madrid, the European Council stressed that the candidate countries must adjust their administrative structures, so as to create the conditions for the harmonious integration of these States. The Copenhagen European Council underlined again the importance of judicial and administrative reform in the candidate countries, stating that this will help bring forward their overall preparation for membership.

This Report takes into consideration progress since the 2002 Regular Report. It covers the period until 30 September 2003. In some particular cases, however, measures taken after that date might be mentioned. It looks at whether planned reforms referred to in the 2002 Regular Report have been carried out and examines new initiatives. In addition, this Report provides an overall assessment of the situation for each of the aspects under consideration.

The Report contains a separate section examining briefly the extent to which Turkey has addressed the Accession Partnership priorities.

As has been the case in previous Reports, "progress" has been measured on the basis of decisions actually taken, legislation actually adopted, international conventions actually ratified (with due attention being given to implementation), and measures actually implemented. As a rule, legislation or measures which are in various stages of either preparation or Parliamentary approval have not been taken into account. This approach ensures equal treatment for all the candidate countries and permits an objective assessment of each country in terms of their concrete progress in preparing for accession.

The Report draws on numerous sources of information. Turkey has been invited to provide information on progress made in preparations for membership since the publication of the last Regular Report. The information it has provided within the framework of the Association Agreement, the National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis, and various peer reviews that have taken place to assess its administrative capacity in a number of areas, have served as additional sources. Council deliberations and European Parliament reports and resolutions have been taken into account in drafting the Report. The Commission has also drawn on assessments made by various international organisations, and in particular the contributions of the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the international financial institutions, and by non-governmental organisations.

2. Relations between the EU and Turkey

The Brussels European Council in October 2002 concluded that:

"Turkey has taken important steps towards meeting the Copenhagen political criteria and moved forward on the economic criteria and alignment with the acquis, as registered in the Commission's Regular Report. This has brought forward the opening of accession negotiations with Turkey. The Union encourages Turkey to pursue its reform process and to take further concrete steps in the direction of implementation, which will advance Turkey's accession in accordance with the same principles and criteria as are applied to the other candidate countries."

The Copenhagen European Council of December 2002:

"recalls its decision in 1999 in Helsinki that Turkey is a candidate state destined to join the Union on the basis of the same criteria as applied to the other candidate States. It strongly welcomes the important steps taken by Turkey towards meeting the Copenhagen criteria, in particular through the recent legislative packages and the subsequent implementation measures which cover a large number of key priorities specified in the Accession Partnership. The Union acknowledges the determination of the new Turkish government to take further steps on the path of reform and urges in particular the government to address swiftly all remaining shortcomings in the field of the political criteria, not only with regard to legislation but also in particular with regard to implementation. The Union recalls that, according to the political criteria decided in Copenhagen in 1993, membership requires that a candidate country has achieved stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities.

The Union encourages Turkey to pursue energetically its reform process. If the European Council in December 2004, on the basis of a report and a recommendation from the Commission, decides that Turkey fulfils the Copenhagen political criteria, the European Union will open accession negotiations with Turkey without delay.

In order to assist Turkey towards EU membership, the accession strategy for Turkey shall be strengthened. The Commission is invited to submit a proposal for a revised Accession Partnership and to intensify the process of legislative scrutiny. In parallel, the EC-Turkey Customs Union should be extended and deepened. The Union will significantly increase its pre-accession financial assistance for Turkey. This assistance will from 2004 be financed under the budget heading 'pre-accession expenditure.'

The Thessaloniki European Council in June 2003:

"welcomes the commitment of the Turkish government to carry forward the reform process, in particular the remaining legislative work by the end of 2003, and supports its ongoing efforts made in order to fulfil the Copenhagen political criteria for opening accession negotiations with the Union. Taking into account progress achieved, significant further efforts to this end are still required. With a view to helping Turkey achieve this objective, the Council adopted recently a revised Accession Partnership, which sets out the priorities that Turkey should pursue, supported by substantially increased pre-accession financial assistance. In accordance with the Helsinki conclusions, fulfilment of these priorities will assist Turkey towards EU membership. The Accession Partnership constitutes the cornerstone of EU-Turkey relations, in particular in view of the decision to be taken by the European Council in December 2004."

The pre-accession strategy has continued to be implemented. In summary, the following results can be mentioned for the reporting period:

- Enhanced political dialogue continued under the Danish, Greek and Italian Presidencies. Among the items discussed were the political reforms in Turkey, human rights, Cyprus and the peaceful settlement of disputes. Views were also exchanged on wider international issues such as Iraq, Caucasus, Western Balkans, Middle East and Afghanistan.

- A -first meeting of the enhanced economic dialogue took place in September 2003. This meeting was particularly useful to exchange information about the economic situation and the pace of economic reforms in Turkey.

- Three meetings of the regular monitoring of the political criteria took place alternately in Brussels and in Ankara. These meetings were chaired by the Commission with the participation of a representative of the Presidency.

- The Customs Union Joint Committee met in Brussels in December 2002.

- In view of deepening the customs union, the Commission is working with Turkey on an action plan in order to achieve the complete free circulation of goods. As regards the extension of the customs union, work on the liberalisation of services and public procurements has continued with a view to the resumption of negotiations.

- Effective participation of Turkey in a number of Community programmes and agencies started in 2003 on the basis of the Framework Agreement with Turkey signed on 26 February 2002.Turkey currently participates in the following Community programmes: Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, e-Content, Gender Equality, Combating Discrimination, Combating Social Exclusion, Incentive Measures in the field of Employment, the new Public Health Programme and the 6th Framework Programme on Research. The pre-accession financial assistance programme helps meet part of the costs of participation in these programmes and agencies. Preparations continue to allow Turkish participation in a number of other programmes: Intelligent Energies, IDA, Fiscalis 2007 and Customs 2007.

- Turkey is now a member of the European Environment Agency. The agreement was signed on 23 January 2003. Turkish participation in the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction in Lisbon is also being prepared.

- Following the conclusions of the Copenhagen European Council in December 2002, the Commission presented in March 2003 a Communication on "Strengthening the Accession Strategy for Turkey". In this communication, the Commission proposed a substantial increase in financial assistance for the period 2004-2006. Pre-accession financial assistance should reach EUR 250 million in 2004, EUR 300 million in 2005 and EUR 500 million in 2006. In line with the approach followed for all candidate countries, financial assistance will be linked to the priorities set out in the Accession Partnership. The communication also proposed enhanced co-operation in other areas, such as the political dialogue, the economic dialogue, justice and home affairs, maritime safety, the process of legislative scrutiny, extending the scope of the customs union, and deepening trade relations.

A revised Accession Partnership was adopted by the Council on 19 May 2003. More details on this instrument can be found in part D of this report.

A revised National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis was adopted on 24 July 2003. This document sets out how Turkey envisages dealing with the Accession Partnership, the timetable for implementing the Partnership's priorities, and implications in terms of human and financial resources. Both the Accession Partnership and the National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis are revised on a regular basis to take account of progress made and to allow for new priorities to be set.

As a candidate country for accession to the EU, Turkey was invited to participate as an observer in the Intergovernmental Conference on the future institutional architecture of the Union.

Recent developments under the Association Agreement, including bilateral trade

The Association Council met in Luxembourg on 15 April 2003. An Association Committee meeting was held in Brussels on 15 March 2003. The system of sub-committees continues to function as a forum for technical discussions.

The Joint Parliamentary Committee comprising representatives of Turkey and the European Parliament met in Istanbul in June 2003. On 5 June 2003, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on Turkey's application for membership of the European Union. [1] The Joint Consultative Committee with the Economic and Social Committee met in Istanbul in April 2003.

[1] For the European Parliament the rapporteur is Mr Arie Oostlander.

The share of the European Community in Turkey's foreign trade increased in 2002, after declining in 2000 and 2001. Turnover in trade with the EC in 2002 was 13.4% up on 2001 and accounted for 47.9% of Turkey's overall trade. In 2002, exports to the EC were 6.1% up on 2001, accounting for 51.4% (EUR 19.1 billion) of Turkey's total export sales. Its main industrial exports to the EC were apparel, textiles, and vehicles and automotive parts. In 2002, imports from the EC were up by 19.8% on 2001, accounting for 45.5% (EUR 24.5 billion) of Turkey's total imports. Its main industrial imports were machinery and iron and steel.

Turkey's agricultural exports to the Community fell in 2002 and its imports from the EU increased, leading to a reduction in the size of its significant trade surplus in the sector. The surplus is mainly accounted for by Turkey's exports of fruits and nuts; its main agricultural imports are cereals. Further agricultural trade liberalisation under Decision No 1/98 of the EC-Turkey Association Council is hampered by Turkey's ban on imports of most live animals and meat products from the EU.

In September 2002 the EU adopted definitive safeguard measures on imports of certain steel products, with erga omnes effect. These measures are the absolute minimum necessary to protect EU steel producers from serious injury due to surging imports resulting from US protectionism, culminating in the US safeguard measures of March 2002.

In October 2002, a new anti-dumping investigation was initiated on imports of hollow sections and provisional measures were adopted in July 2003.

Community assistance

There is a dedicated pre-accession instrument to assist Turkey: the pre-accession financial assistance programme for Turkey adopted by the Council in December 2001. The procedures for programming and implementing this programme now largely mirror those of the Phare programme. The support provided by the pre-accession financial assistance programme is focused on the Accession Partnership priorities which are intended to help Turkey meet the criteria for membership.

Initially Turkey received support under the Meda programme and more recently through the two "European Strategy" regulations to support the customs union and economic and social development. A "pre-accession" focus was established for Turkey within these programmes following the conclusions of the Helsinki European Council.

The pre-accession financial assistance regulation superseded the above regulations from 2002. Like the Phare programme, it provides support for institution building, investment to strengthen the regulatory infrastructure needed to ensure compliance with the acquis, and investment in economic and social cohesion. This support comprises co-financing for technical assistance, twinning (see below) and investment-support projects, to help Turkey with its efforts to adopt the acquis and strengthen the institutions necessary for implementing and enforcing the acquis. The pre-accession financial assistance programme is also intended to help Turkey develop the mechanisms and institutions to promote economic and social cohesion; it is supported by a limited number of measures (investment and grant schemes) with a regional or thematic focus. It may also support activities which in the other candidate countries would be financed by ISPA or SAPARD.

Deconcentration of the management of all ongoing cooperation programmes with Turkey to the Commission Delegation in Ankara has continued to bear fruit. 2002 proved to be the most successful year to date for the Commission's financial assistance programmes to Turkey, with the value of projects contracted considerably exceeding the value of new commitments. 2003 is on target to produce a similar performance leading to a significant reduction in the backlog of assistance which had built up over the period 1996-2001.

Furthermore, following the decision in 2001 to establish a decentralised implementation system in Turkey, the Commission has accredited the agencies forming part of the system (National Aid Co-ordinator, Central Finance and Contract Unit, National Fund). A formal decision was subsequently taken to devolve responsibility for implementing pre-accession financial assistance programmes to the Turkish government.

Between 1995 and 2002, EUR 954 million was committed to various programmes in Turkey. For the years 2000-2003 financial assistance to Turkey amounts to an annual average of around EUR 177 million. In 2003 the pre-accession financial assistance national programme totals EUR 144 million. It focuses on the following priorities:

* Addressing the Copenhagen political criteria: twinning and technical assistance will be provided for the national police, human rights, democracy and citizenship education in schools, and improving government-to-civil society dialogue. Separately, Turkey is also a focus country under the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights.

* Approximation to the acquis: twinning, technical assistance and investment to improve market surveillance and conformity assessment systems, adopt EU environmental standards in the fields of drinking water, air quality, chemicals and waste management, approximate insurance legislation and financial control practices with EU standards, and strengthen the public procurement system; twinning, technical assistance and investment in the field of justice and home affairs to improve visa policy and practice, strengthen police forensic capacity and help the fight against money laundering and trafficking in people.

* Strengthening public administration: this part of the programme includes projects to strengthen the capacity of the customs administration, fisheries management, the energy market, transport and foreign direct investment.

* Economic and social cohesion: this objective targets the under-developed regions of Samsun, Kastamonu and Erzurum and aims to improve the capacity of the Turkish authorities in developing EU approaches to regional economic development. It also seeks to promote SME clusters around Istanbul and pilots a cross-border cooperation programme with Bulgaria.

The programme also includes capacity building for the National Aid Co-ordinator secretariat (primarily in project preparation, to improve their capacity to design pre-accession assistance programmes) and co-financing for Turkey's contribution for participation in certain EC programmes and agencies.

Although Turkey is not a beneficiary under the Phare Regulation, the country's participation in Phare multi-country programmes, such as TAIEX, is sought as far as possible through its own pre-accession financial assistance envelope. TAIEX activities have been further expanded to Turkey. A number of seminars, workshops and bilateral meetings have taken place in support of the legislative scrutiny. Further TAIEX activities are planned for 2003.

Overall the impact of Community assistance to Turkey is increasingly positive. It is hoped that following the decentralisation of management of the assistance programmes to the Turkish authorities the acceleration already witnessed in 2002-3 will be maintained and support can begin to have a significant impact.

The EU has provided significant resources in a number of important areas, such as basic education, training, environmental infrastructure, reproductive health, and macro-economic adjustment. More recently, the transfer of know-how, equipment and financial resources has begun in a number of important fields, such the reform of local administration, statistics and investment in the poorest regions of Turkey. The first support in 2002 for institution building in a wide range of acquis-related areas should succeed in focusing efforts on the legislative and institutional requirements for adoption and implementation of the acquis. Implementation of the 2002 programme was conditional upon Turkey's establishment of the decentralised management system and is therefore only beginning at the time of writing. The Commission has also sought a high degree of complementarity between the pre-accession financial assistance programme and the ongoing reform programmes supported by the international financial institutions, particularly the World Bank, in such areas as education, regulatory reform and public procurement.

Turkey is also a major beneficiary of assistance from the European Investment Bank (EIB). The country may benefit from up to five different mandates and facilities: the EuroMed II Lending Mandate for Mediterranean countries, the Mediterranean Partnership Facility, the Special Action Mandate for Turkey, the Turkey Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Assistance Facility and the Pre-Accession Facility. In total Turkey received loan financing worth EUR 1395 million from 1992 to 2001. In 2002 around EUR 560 million was granted by the EIB for major investment projects, including the first loan to Turkey under the Pre-Accession Facility.

Detailed legislative scrutiny

The process of legislative scrutiny, carried out in the framework of the sub-committees of the Association Agreement has continued and intensified following the conclusions of the Copenhagen European Council. This process focused on precise sector issues. Its purpose is to guide Turkey in the requirements for implementation of the acquis, including administrative capacity and enforcement. In its Communication on the strengthening of the accession strategy, the Commission has further developed this process via an enhanced programme of TAIEX seminars and technical meetings, supplementing the work of the sub-committees with workshops on specific subjects.

Twinning

One of the main challenges still facing the candidate countries is the need to strengthen their administrative and judicial capacity to implement and enforce the acquis. As of 1998, the European Commission began to mobilise significant human and financial resources to help them with this process, using the mechanism of twinning administrations and agencies.

The twinning process makes the vast body of Member States' expertise available to the candidate countries through the long-term secondment of civil servants and accompanying short-term expert missions and training.

Twinning projects were programmed for Turkey for the first time in the 2002 national programme. There were 13 such projects in the programme. Twinning will again be an important element under the 2003 programme, contributing to the results of 17 projects. These span a broad range of sectors, the most numerous being in the areas of justice and home affairs and the financial sector. In addition twinning projects are planned in the fields of internal market, environment, fisheries, energy, transport and regional policy.

B. CRITERIA FOR MEMBERSHIP

1. Enhanced political dialogue and political criteria

The political criteria for accession to be met by the candidate countries, as laid down by the Copenhagen European Council in June 1993, stipulate that these countries must have achieved "stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities". [2]

[2] In the meantime, through the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam in May 1999, the political criteria defined at Copenhagen have been essentially enshrined as a constitutional principle in the Treaty on European Union. Article 6(1) of the consolidated Treaty on European Union reads: "The Union is founded on the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law." Accordingly, Article 49 of the consolidated Treaty stipulates that "Any European State which respects the principles set out in Article 6(1) may apply to become a member of the Union." These principles were emphasised in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, that was proclaimed at the Nice European Council in December 2000.

In its 1998 Regular Report on Turkey, the Commission concluded:

"On the political side, the evaluation highlights certain anomalies in the functioning of the public authorities, persistent human rights violations and major shortcomings in the treatment of minorities. The lack of civilian control of the army gives cause for concern. This is reflected by the major role played by the army in political life through the national security council. A civil, non-military solution must be found to the situation in south-east Turkey, particularly since many of the violations of civil and political rights observed in the country are connected in one way or another with this issue. The Commission acknowledges the Turkish government's commitment to combat human rights violations in the country but this has not so far had any significant effect in practice. The process of democratic reform on which Turkey embarked in 1995 must continue.

In addition to resolving these problems, Turkey must make a constructive contribution to the settlement of all disputes with various neighbouring countries by peaceful means in accordance with international law."

In its 2002 Regular Report, the Commission found that:

"The decision on the candidate status of Turkey in Helsinki in 1999 has encouraged Turkey to introduce a series of fundamental reforms. A major constitutional reform was introduced in October 2001 aimed at strengthening guarantees in the field of human rights and fundamental freedoms and restricting the grounds for capital punishment. A new Civil Code was adopted in November 2001. Three sets of reform packages were adopted in February, March and August 2002. The death penalty has been lifted in peacetime. The state of emergency has now been lifted in two provinces in the South East and the decision has been taken to lift it in the two provinces where it still applies by the end of this year.

The adoption of these reforms is an important signal of the determination of the majority of Turkey's political leaders to move towards further alignment with the values and standards of the European Union. The August reforms were adopted under difficult political and economic circumstances and are particularly significant as they impinge upon traditionally sensitive issues.

The reform of the prison system continued, and progress was made in terms of improving physical conditions. Monitoring Boards and the new system of enforcement judges are now operational. A number of recommendations of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) are being implemented. However, despite progress, certain problems remain with conditions in F-Type prisons.

The reduction in the length of pre-trial detention (police custody) periods is a positive development in the context of the fight against torture. However, the lack of immediate access to a lawyer means that incommunicado detention for prisoners convicted under State Security Courts continues. Longer periods of custody still apply in the areas under the state of emergency. There have been continued allegations of torture and ill-treatment and little progress in the prosecution of those accused of such abuses.

The reform package of August provides for the retrial of persons whose convictions have been found by the European Court of Human Rights to be in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

The change made to Article 159 of the Turkish Penal Code means that the expression of opinion without the "intention" of "insulting" public institutions will no longer face criminal sanction. Changes to Articles 312 of the Penal Code and to the Anti-Terror Law, the Press Law, the Law on Political Parties and the Law on Associations eased certain restrictions on freedom of expression, association, the press and broadcasting.

The August package removed some restrictions in the law on broadcasting which had been readopted by Parliament in May following the president's veto. However the prosecution of writers, journalists and publishers has continued.

Progress has been made in the area of freedom of association where the law on associations has been modified and some restrictions lifted. Various grounds for banning associations remain, however.

The generally restrictive character of the Law on Associations remains, including the prior authorisation system. Foreign associations in Turkey are subject to certain limitations and strict controls.

As part of the August package, broadcasting and education in languages other than Turkish have now been authorised. Although the Law on Foundations has been amended, religious minorities continue to face limitations regarding legal personality, property rights, training of clergy and education.

The new Civil Code includes provisions aimed at improving gender equality and strengthening guarantees regarding the protection and rights of the child. Turkey ratified the 1969 UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. However, trade unions remain subject to restrictions and child labour persists. The legislation which allows for reduced sentences for crimes related to "honour killings" is still applicable.

Reform of the judicial system has continued. The competence of the State Security Courts has been narrowed and the period of pre-trial detention reduced. The functioning of these Courts, though, is still not in line with international standards. There are continued reports that the judiciary does not always act in an independent and consistent manner. Training courses in human rights have taken place for judges and law enforcement officials.

A number of initiatives to foster more transparency in Turkey's public life have been taken in the last year. Nonetheless, corruption remains a serious problem. The relevant Conventions of the Council of Europe have not yet been ratified.

The lifting of the state of emergency in two provinces of the South East has led to an improvement in the conditions of daily life there. The protection of human rights in the region needs to be strengthened.

The constitutional amendment introducing changes to the composition and role of the National Security Council has been put into practice. Nonetheless, these changes do not appear to have modified the way in which the National Security Council operates in practice.

Turkey has continued to express support for direct talks between the leaders of the two communities in Cyprus to achieve a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem. The EU, in line with statements issued by the United Nations Security Council, has emphasised the need for Turkey to take further steps to encourage the Turkish Cypriot leadership to work towards reaching a settlement before the end of accession negotiations.

Relations between Turkey and Greece have continued to improve. Efforts are continuing to put in effect new confidence building measures. Exploratory contacts on the Aegean between the two foreign ministries started in March 2002.

Overall, Turkey has made noticeable progress towards meeting the Copenhagen political criteria since the Commission issued its report in 1998, and in particular in the course of the last year. The reforms adopted in August 2002 are particularly far-reaching. Taken together, these reforms provide much of the ground work for strengthening democracy and the protection of human rights in Turkey. They open the way for further changes which should enable Turkish citizens progressively to enjoy rights and freedoms commensurate with those prevailing in the European Union.

Nonetheless Turkey does not fully meet the political criteria. First, the reforms contain a number of significant limitations, which are set out in this report, on the full enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms. Important restrictions remain, notably, to freedom of expression, including in particular the written press and broadcasting, freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of association, freedom of religion and the right to legal redress.

Secondly, many of the reforms require the adoption of regulations or other administrative measures, which should be in line with European standards. Some of these measures have already been introduced and others are being drawn up. To be effective, the reforms will need to be implemented in practice by executive and judicial bodies at different levels throughout the country.

The Commission considers that the decision of the High Electoral Board to prevent the leader of a major political party from participating in the November 3 General Elections does not reflect the spirit of the reforms.

Thirdly, a number of important issues arising under the political criteria have yet to be adequately addressed. These include the fight against torture and ill-treatment, civilian control of the military, the situation of persons imprisoned for expressing non-violent opinions, and compliance with the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights.

In the light of the noticeable progress made in recent years and of the remaining areas requiring further attention, Turkey is encouraged to pursue the reform process to strengthen democracy and the protection of human rights, in law and in practice. This will enable Turkey to overcome the remaining obstacles to full compliance with the political criteria."

The section below provides an assessment of developments in Turkey, seen from the perspective of the Copenhagen political criteria, including the overall functioning of the country's executive and its judicial system. Such developments are in many ways closely linked to developments regarding its ability to implement the acquis, in particular in the domain of justice and home affairs. Specific information on the development of Turkey's ability to implement the acquis in the field of justice and home affairs can be found in the relevant section (Chapter 24 - Co-operation in the field of justice and home affairs) of part 0 of this Report.

1.1 Recent developments

Four major packages of political reform have been adopted over the last year, introducing changes to different areas of legislation. Some of the reforms carry great political significance as they impinge upon sensitive issues in the Turkish context, such as freedom of expression, freedom of demonstration, cultural rights and civilian control of the military. In this context, the seventh reform package adopted in July 2003 was particularly important. The new Parliament elected on 3 November 2002 adopted these "reform packages" with overwhelming majorities. Throughout this process, the Turkish population at large manifested its full support to changes aimed at bringing Turkey closer to the values and standards of the European Union.

The Government has also taken steps to ensure effective implementation of the reforms such as the setting up a Reform Monitoring Group. Furthermore, the government declared a zero tolerance policy towards torture. The state of emergency in all remaining provinces of the Southeast was lifted on 30 November 2002.

However, in spite of some positive developments on the ground, the reforms have produced limited practical effects. So far, implementation has been slow and uneven.

The Turkish government has declared repeatedly that its main objective is to meet the Copenhagen political criteria in time to allow a positive assessment by the Commission next year and thereby pave the way for a decision by the European Council in December 2004 to start accession negotiations with Turkey.

In parallel, substantial economic reforms have continued in line with the requirements from the International Monetary Fund. The reforms have contributed to the stabilisation and steady recovery of the Turkish economy.

Turkey's agreement to the comprehensive deal reached in December 2002 regarding the participation of non-EU European allies in ESDP, opened the way for the finalisation of the permanent arrangements between the EU and NATO and to the subsequent implementation of the Berlin Plus agenda.

Bilateral relations between Turkey and Greece continue to evolve positively with both governments making public commitments at the highest level to continued rapprochement. Several additional confidence building measures have been agreed between the foreign ministers of both countries.

The Turkish political landscape has undergone changes as a result of the parliamentary elections of 3 November 2002. For the first time after decades of coalition governments, Turkey has a single party government formed by the AK Party (Justice and Development Party) enjoying a large majority in Parliament.

An earthquake hit the south-eastern city of Bingöl in March, causing many casualties, including the death of 70 children, and resulting in considerable material damage.

The Constitutional Court decided to close down the People's Democratic Party (HADEP) and the general prosecutor launched legal proceedings against the Democratic People's Party (DEHAP) in view of its closure. Moreover, the Supreme Court ruled that DEHAP was responsible for submitting forged documents in view of participating to the November 2002 elections.

1.2 Democracy and the rule of law

The parliament

Parliamentary elections took place on 3 November 2002. As a result of the vote, only two parties out of the 18 running are represented in the Turkish Grand National Assembly, namely the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Republican People's Party (CHP). AKP received over a third of the vote, resulting in 363 seats, only 4 seats short of the two-thirds majority required for constitutional changes. The CHP obtained 178 seats, becoming the main opposition party. There were also 9 independent deputies elected.

The elections were monitored by members of the European Parliament and of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly in some provinces. The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Election Assessment Mission visited Turkey from 29 October to 4 November 2002, in line with its programme of assessing electoral practices in established democracies as well as in countries in transition. The OSCE/ODIHR considered that the elections were held in line with international standards and that significant constitutional and legal reforms instituted over the past two years have further improved the overall legal framework for elections.

In the reporting period, the Parliament adopted a constitutional change amending Article 76 of the Constitution concerning the right to be elected, narrowing the scope of the ban on participation in elections to involvement in acts of terrorism. After a veto by the President, this constitutional amendment was readopted unchanged by Parliament. Parliament also adopted a constitutional amendment on the reduction of the age limit for candidates in the general elections to 25 years.

Apart from the packages of political reforms (see Section B.1.3 - Human rights and protection of minorities), Parliament adopted 143 new laws and ratified several international and European conventions such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Protocol No 6 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR).

After several years of discussion, a Parliamentary Committee for EU integration, called EU Harmonisation Commission, was established on 15 April 2003. This advisory Committee is responsible for following developments related to Turkey's pre-accession process, and for reviewing draft laws to check compliance with the acquis.

A Parliamentary Committee on the Constitutional reforms has continued to work with a view to amending additional provisions of the Constitution.

The Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights produced special reports on the human rights situation in the south-east in light of the lifting of the state of emergency, with specific recommendations to the executive. The Committee has collected public complaints on human rights violations and has requested relevant authorities to follow up and redress the situation where necessary. Members of the Committee have also been closely following a number of trials, including the re-trial in the Sadak, Zana, Dicle and Dogan case related to the former Democracy party (DEP).

On 1 March 2003, Parliament rejected a government motion permitting the deployment of US troops in the south-east of Turkey and the deployment of Turkish troops in Iraq. The government presented the motion once again and it was adopted by Parliament on 7 October.

The Constitutional Court annulled some of the internal rules of procedure of Parliament introduced in February 2001 in order to speed up approval of legislation. As a result, the Assembly has the right to vote on whether a committee report will be read in plenary.

The executive

For the first time since 1987, a single-party government took office in November after the general elections, led by Prime Minister Abdullah Gül of AKP.

After Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan was elected deputy following the adoption of the relevant constitutional amendment, he was appointed Prime Minister by the President and formed a new government, which received the vote of confidence from Parliament on 23 March 2003. The government's programme outlined the intention to introduce sweeping political reforms with particular emphasis on the law on political parties, the electoral law and the penal code. The programme also refers to plans to draw up a new Constitution enshrining the principles of a democratic state based on the rule of law and guaranteeing fundamental freedoms. Some of these plans have been partially implemented.

The goal of EU accession has been amongst the government's main priorities. On several occasions, the government reiterated its commitment to fulfil the Copenhagen political criteria before the end of 2004. In July the government adopted a revised National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis (NPAA) and submitted it for discussion to political parties and NGOs.

The government set up a Reform Monitoring Group in September with a view to ensuring effective implementation of the reforms. Under the chairmanship of the deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Gül, this Group holds weekly meetings. The remit of this group includes fact-findings missions intended to identify difficulties experienced in the practical implementation of the reforms.

During the reporting period, the President exercised his right of veto with respect to several pieces of legislation adopted by Parliament including the constitutional amendment concerning the possibility of selling forests belonging to the state and the law concerning the abolition of Article 8 ("propaganda against the indivisible unity of the state") of the Anti Terror Act in July 2003. In the latter case, Parliament readopted the same law, leading to the approval by the President.

The government issued an action plan in January designed to streamline the functioning of public administration and government, to promote a more transparent management of human resources in the public service and to strengthen the fight against corruption. One of the measures under this plan has been to reduce the number of ministries from 36 to 23. An inter-ministerial committee, established by the Government to co-ordinate the realisation of the action plan, was set up in March by the Prime Minister.

In some cases, the measures drawn up by executive bodies responsible for the implementation of specific aspects of the political reforms adopted by Parliament have considerably narrowed the scope of these reforms by establishing very strict conditions. This has been particularly the case for the regulation on radio and TV broadcasting in languages other than Turkish adopted by the High Audio Visual Board in December 2002, for the regulation on acquisition of real estate by community foundations adopted in January 2003 by the Directorate General of Foundations and for the circular authorising the registration of names given to children by their parents which are considered to be not politically "offensive".

National Security Council

A number of fundamental changes have been made to the legal framework of the National Security Council (NSC) with a view to aligning relations between civil and military authorities on practice in EU Member States.

The advisory nature of the NSC was confirmed in a law implementing the amendment of October 2001 relating to Article 118 of the Constitution, which also increased the number of civilians in the NSC. In an amendment to the Law on the National Security Council the provision that "the NSC will report to the Council of Ministers the views it has reached and its suggestions" has been abrogated.

The representative of the NSC in the Supervision Board of Cinema, Video and Music has been removed by an amendment to the relevant Law. However, there remains a representative of the National Security Council on other civilian boards such as the High Audio-Visual Board (RTÜK) and the High- Education Board (YÖK).

The seventh "reform package" adopted in July introduced some fundamental changes to the duties, functioning and composition of the NSC. An amendment to the Law on the National Security Council has abolished the extended executive and supervisory powers of the Secretary General of the NSC. In particular, the provision empowering the Secretary General of the NSC to follow up, on behalf of the President and the Prime Minister, the implementation of any recommendation made by the NSC has been abrogated. Other provisions authorising unlimited access of the NSC to any civilian agency have also been abrogated. A new regulation will be enacted to define the new tasks of the Office of the Secretary General.

Another amendment provides that the post of Secretary General will no longer be reserved exclusively for a military person. In August, it was decided to appoint a military candidate to replace the outgoing Secretary General for one year. The frequency of the meetings of the NSC has been modified, so that it will normally meet every two months instead of once a month.

New provisions have been adopted with a view to enhancing the transparency of defence expenditures. The Court of Auditors, upon request of Parliament, will now be authorised to audit accounts and transactions of all types of organisations including the state properties owned by the armed forces. The audit of the Court is still subject to the restrictions under Article 160 of the Constitution under which the confidentiality of the national defence is foreseen.

In spite of the extension of the remit of the Court of Auditors to national defence, the Armed Forces continue to enjoy a substantial degree of autonomy in preparing and establishing the defence budget and in public procurement in the defence-related area. There are still two extra-budgetary funds available to the military. One of these funds relates to a defence industry support fund in which the main budgetary resources allocated to defence originate. According to official data, the national defence budget amounts to 7 % of the consolidated state budget.

Apart from the NSC, the armed forces in Turkey exercise influence through a series of informal mechanisms. On various occasions military members of the NSC expressed their opinions about political, social and foreign policy matters in public speeches, statements to the media and declarations.

Overall, the above mentioned amendments could significantly modify the functioning of the National Security Council. In order to align civilian control of the military with practice in EU Member States, it is important that these reforms are effectively implemented, for military representation to be withdrawn from civilian bodies and for Parliament to ensure full control on the defence budget.

The judicial system

The Turkish judicial system comprises a Constitutional Court, a Council of State, a Supreme Court, a Court of Jurisdictional Disputes and a general system of courts of first instance. There are also State Security Courts and Military Courts.

A number of structural changes have been made which have helped to strengthen the efficiency of the judiciary.

The court system has been strengthened with the adoption of the law on the establishment of family courts. Since January, 114 such courts have been established and 63 are already operating. These courts are competent for cases relating to family law. The task of these courts is to take protective, educational and social measures for children and adults including financial protection of the family. These courts will be established in all towns with a population of more than 100 000 inhabitants.

The Code of Civil Procedure and the Code of Criminal Procedure have been amended to allow re-trial in civil and criminal cases in which the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has found violations of the ECHR and its Additional Protocols. The amendments provide for a one-year deadline after the ECtHR judgement for submitting an application for retrial. (See Section B.1.3. -- Human rights and the protection of minorities -- "Civil and political rights")

The system of judicial records has been brought in line with Article 1 of the United Nations Convention on Children's Rights. The criminal record of children under 18 can now be only made available to public prosecutors under strict conditions.

The Law on juvenile courts has been amended raising from 15 to 18 the age at which young people must be tried in juvenile courts.

The system of notification of judicial acts and decisions has been strengthened with a view to ensuring proper notification for accused or condemned persons.

The Law on the Forensic Medicine Institution has been amended with the aim of accelerating judicial procedures. One function of the Forensic Medicine Institution is to conduct medical examinations of persons who claim to have been mistreated in police custody with a view to assessing the veracity of the allegations. Administrative capacity in this field has been strengthened and budgetary provisions for the recruitment of additional staff has been made. The amendments also envisage the establishment of forensic directorates in all penal court districts. In addition, 3 new directorates for Forensic Medicine have been set up and the network has been endowed with new technical equipment. However, conditions in many forensic medicine examination rooms at courthouses remain inadequate.

The Law on the Establishment and Trial Procedures of Military Courts has been amended with a view to ending military jurisdiction over civilians and to aligning the provisions of the military code of procedure with reforms adopted by previous packages concerning freedom of expression. As a result, military courts will no longer try civilians including juveniles held responsible for "inciting soldiers to mutiny and disobedience, discouraging the public from military duty and undermining national resistance" under Article 58 of the Penal Code.

As regards the functioning of the judiciary, both judges and public prosecutors are faced with a large backlog. The duration of trials in State Security Courts has increased slightly. For juvenile courts, the average trial period, though still longer than in other criminal courts, has decreased. The overwhelming caseload for courts does not allow enough time for the hearings and results in inadequate reading of case files, which has implications for the rights of the defence.

The number of judges and prosecutors in Turkey during the reporting period has increased from 9 020 to 9 162. The National Judicial Network Project to develop an information technology programme has continued to progress. The installation of infrastructure and software in the majority of provincial units across the country has been completed together with their connection to the central ministry in Ankara. The project aims to complete the computerisation of all provincial units by the end of 2003.

According to official figures, in 2002 and 2003 1 132 judges and prosecutors were trained on the implementation of the new Civil Code adopted in November 2001, 731 on the harmonisation of laws with EU law, 4 594 on human rights, 350 on forensic medicine applications and 519 on criminal matters and human rights, as well as numerous smaller training activities in other specialised areas such as international asylum law. A Justice Academy has been created to train judges and prosecutors as well as other judicial officers such as notaries.

Since October 2002 six training sessions on the implementation of the "reform packages" have been held in several cities with the participation of approximately 1 100 judges and public prosecutors.

The Ministry of Justice has published and distributed to judges and public prosecutors a guide book including Turkish translation of the case law of the ECtHR. Furthermore, on the official website of the Ministry of Justice, all decisions of the ECtHR are made available.

The judiciary plays an important role in the implementation of political reforms. Courts have started to apply the reforms. Criminal proceedings launched against individuals on the basis of Articles 312 (incitement to class, ethnical, religious or racial hatred) and 159 (insulting the state institutions) have generally concluded with acquittals. The courts have started to review convictions of persons convicted under Article 8 of the Anti Terror law and to order their release from prison. The courts have also started to review the convictions of persons convicted under article 169 of the Turkish Penal Code which has been amended and in appropriate cases, to order their release.

However, there are still signs of inconsistent use of articles of the Penal Code when applied to cases related to freedom of expression as shown by the broad use made by Article 312 and 169 of the Penal Code as well as Article 7 of the anti-terror law. (See Section B.1.3. -- Human rights and the protection of minorities -- Civil and political rights).

As last year, there has been no progress with regard to the establishment of intermediate courts of appeal, although legislative preparations are underway The Supreme Court still performs the functions of court of second instance. The Supreme Court deals with an average of 500 000 cases a year which would otherwise be dealt with by courts of appeal. The establishment of courts of appeal would not only increase the speed and efficiency of the judiciary, but it would also be an important step forward in ensuring the right to a fair trial. At the same time, the establishment of courts of appeal would relieve the Supreme Court from its excessive workload and allow it to concentrate on its function of unifying and clarifying the Turkish case law.

There continue to be reports that the judiciary does not always act in an impartial and consistent manner. The principle of the independence of the judiciary is enshrined in the Turkish Constitution. In practice however, its independence is undermined by several other constitutional provisions, which establish an organic link between the judiciary and the executive. The Constitution provides that judges and prosecutors shall be attached to the Ministry of Justice in so far as their administrative functions are concerned .

In addition, appointment, promotion and discipline and, broadly speaking, the careers of all judges and prosecutors in Turkey are determined by the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors, which is chaired by the Minister of Justice and of which the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice is also a member . The possibility of removal and transfer to less attractive regions of Turkey by the Supreme Council may influence judges' attitudes and decisions. Aside from the composition of the Council itself, the influence of the executive is further enhanced by the fact that the High Council does not have its own secretariat and its premises are inside the Ministry of Justice building. The Council is entirely dependent upon a personnel directorate and inspection board of the Ministry of Justice for its administrative tasks.

Another difficulty of the Turkish judicial system is related to processing of evidence. Whilst public prosecutors are legally responsible for supervising all the phases of the criminal proceedings, day to day practice tends to suggest that public prosecutors are not always adequately informed by the security forces about the facts surrounding detention. Heavy overload seems also to explain why public prosecutors exercise little or no supervision over the security forces during the pre-trial investigation period and why many cases come to trial with inadequate preparation. Public prosecutors should therefore exercise closer control over the investigation of cases and the preparation of prosecutions.

In spite of some progress related to the improvement of the detainee's rights and the elimination of "incommunicado detention" (see Section B.1.3. -- Human rights and the protection of minorities -- "Civil and political rights"), the powers, responsibilities and functioning of the State Security Courts still need to be brought in line with European standards in terms of protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, in particular the rights of defence. The abolition of these courts has been called for publicly by high ranking members of the judiciary and even announced by members of the Turkish Government.

Anti-corruption measures

Some progress has been achieved in adopting anti-corruption measures. However, surveys continue to indicate that corruption remains a very serious problem in Turkey. The sectors more prone to corruption are reported to be the media, government, construction, and health. Moreover, 80 % of businessmen believe that corruption is the main obstacle preventing foreign investment.

Parliament ratified in April the Council of Europe Civil Law Convention on Corruption paving the way for Turkey's participation in the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) which monitors compliance with European anti-corruption standards.

In January, Parliament amended legislation with respect to combating bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions with a view to implementing the relevant OECD Convention of which Turkey became a member in 2000. This law makes bribery of a foreign public official a criminal offence under the Turkish Penal Code. The law also renders the money laundering of proceeds of bribery a criminal offence in the Turkish penal system.

The judicial registration system has also been amended in respect of the record keeping period, which has been increased from five to ten years for convictions related to financial crimes (bribery, embezzlement, fraud, etc.) and to more than five years for prison sentences.

In January, a parliamentary investigation commission was set up to analyse the economic and social dimensions of corruption, and to identify necessary measures. It issued its report in July proposing to establish subcommittees to investigate a large number of politicians and former ministers including a prime minister for a series of corruption cases in public tenders, privatisation operations and other areas. The report also suggests limiting immunities and facilitating retrial of former ministers and heads of government.

In the action plan adopted in January, the Government included several measures and initiatives aimed at strengthening the fight against corruption. Among these measures are a Public Information Act intended to increase transparency of public life and a Civil Service Code of Conduct.

Many of the institutional mechanisms provided for in the plan are however not yet in place: the Inter-ministerial Commission consisting of nine ministries and departments was announced but has not yet met; the Steering Committee which is to consist of senior officials (such as Directors of Departments) has not been established.

Between May 2002 and May 2003, the Customs Inspectors prepared and submitted 170 investigation reports to the public prosecutors. In the same period, the Customs Controllers prepared and submitted 457 investigation reports to the public prosecutors.

1.3 Human rights and the protection of minorities

As stated above, four new reform packages have been adopted since August 2002. These were enacted in January 2003 in Act No. 4778 (the fourth package), in February in Act No. 4793 (the fifth), in July in Act No. 4928 (the sixth), and in August in Act No. 4963 (the seventh). The reform packages address a range of issues related to human rights and the protection of minorities. These include strengthening the fight against torture, broadening the scope of fundamental freedoms such as the freedom of expression, association, demonstration and peaceful assembly, enhancing legal redress and improving cultural rights. A number of regulations and circulars have also been issued by the authorities in order to implement measures from the reform packages of 2002 and 2003. Detailed assessment of the legislation is given below.

Turkey has made progress with regard to international conventions on human rights. In June 2003 Parliament ratified the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. However, Turkey made reservations to these Covenants in relation to the right to education and to minorities' rights. In June 2003, Parliament also ratified Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) on the abolition of the death penalty except in times of war or the imminent threat of war. Turkey has not yet, however, deposited the relevant instruments of ratification with the UN and the Council of Europe.

Turkey has not signed the Optional Protocol to the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, the Revised European Social Charter or the Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Since October 2002 the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has delivered 92 judgements concerning Turkey. On 43 occasions the Court found that Turkey had violated the ECHR (in only one case was Turkey judged not to have been in violation of the Convention) and 47 friendly settlements were concluded - many of which contained undertakings to take individual and general measures, over and above the payment of a sum of money. During this period 2614 new applications regarding Turkey were made to the ECtHR.

Turkey still faces problems in relation to the execution of judgements of the ECtHR.

Turkey has not yet taken all the necessary measures - prescribed by the Court in 1999 - to redress a number of violations of the right to freedom of expression, namely the striking out of the criminal convictions unjustifiably imposed and the restoration of civil rights. Neither has Turkey fully rectified the problems caused by a number of erroneous payments of just satisfaction in the period 2000-2002.

In October 2003 the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe decided to adopt an Interim Resolution regarding the lack of compliance by Turkey with its commitments following a friendly settlement in the case of Institut de Prêtres français [3] (2000) (see below under "Civil and political rights"). The Committee also decided to adopt an Interim Resolution on Turkey's lack of compliance with the provisions related to the right to education in the case of Cyprus against Turkey (2001). [4]

[3] Case Institut de Prêtres français vs. Turkey (Application n° 26308/95)

[4] Case Cyprus vs. Turkey (Application n° 25781/94)

As regards the Loizidou case [5], concerning the violation of the applicants' right to property, in June 2003 Turkey made the commitment that it would pay the just satisfaction awarded by the Court in 1998 by October 2003. At the time of writing, no such payment has been made.

[5] Case of Loizidou vs. Turkey (Application n° 15318/89).

On the other hand, the Committee recognised that further progress had been achieved in respect to the execution of 48 judgements [6] relating to abuses committed by the security forces, 34 judgements [7] concerning interference with the right to freedom of expression. Nevertheless, the Committee did not find that all necessary measures had been taken and decided that it would continue to play its monitoring role until Turkey provides concrete evidence of full execution.

[6] See Int Res DH (2002) 98.

[7] See Int Res DH (2001) 106.

Provisions enabling retrial in the light of the ECtHR's decisions were enhanced as part of the fifth reform package. Retrial now applies to all decisions which were finalised by the ECtHR prior to 4 February 2003, as well as to applications filed after this date. However, retrial does not apply to friendly settlements or to cases that were still pending prior to 4 February, which includes the case of Öcalan [8]. As a result of the amendments, 16 applications for retrial have been submitted to the competent judicial authorities including the retrial of the former Democracy Party (DEP) members of Parliament (Sadak, Zana, Dicle, and Do/an [9]) which was opened on 28 March 2003 and is ongoing. However, there are serious concerns regarding the compliance of the proceedings with the provisions of the ECHR on fair trial, particularly in relation to the rights of the defence. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe decided in October 2003 to formally express these concerns to the Turkish authorities. With the sixth reform package administrative cases, in addition to criminal and civil cases, are covered by the provisions on retrial.

[8] Case of Öcalan vs. Turkey (Application n° 46221/99).

[9] Case of Sadak, Zana, Dicle, Do/an vs. Turkey (Applications n° 29900/96 to 29903/96)

With regard to the enforcement of human rights, the complex structure of governmental human rights boards and committees established over the past two years has been strengthened. At the local level, the number of sub-provincial (district) Human Rights Boards was increased from 831 in 2002 to 859 in 2003.

The Reform Monitoring Group, which includes a representative of the government's human rights agency, is entrusted with the task of ensuring that allegations of human rights violations are investigated.

A Human Rights Violations Investigation and Assessment Centre was established within the Gendarmerie Command in April 2003. The Parliamentary Human Rights Investigation Committee investigated alleged violations of human rights and produced reports which were forwarded to the relevant institutions. The Committee has, for example, carried out inspections in the south east with regard to the normalisation of life in the former emergency rule provinces and has made numerous unannounced visits to police stations across the country.

With regard to training on human rights, a number of ad hoc projects have taken place in addition to the joint European Commission - Council of Europe initiative. This initiative covers human rights training for civil servants, in particular the judiciary; human rights awareness raising within society and support with respect to legal reform. In this context a training programme on ECtHR case law for the judiciary began in May 2003.

As regards the fight against discrimination, the Additional Protocol No. 12 to the ECHR on the general prohibition of discrimination by public authorities, signed in 2001, has not been ratified. Turkey still has no comprehensive strategy or legislative and administrative provisions against discrimination. It also lacks statistical data, which would show the nature and extent of any discrimination on the basis of all prohibited grounds, such as ethnic origin, religion or language. Turkey still needs to transpose and implement the EU anti-discrimination acquis based on Article 13 of the EC Treaty. (see also Chapter 13 - Social policy and employment).

Civil and political rights

As stated above, following the abolition of the death penalty in August 2002, in June 2003 Parliament ratified Protocol No. 6 of the ECHR which forbids the death penalty except in times of war and the imminent threat of war.

The sixth reform package includes a provision to align existing legislation with the abolition of the death penalty, by converting all death penalties (except in times of war or the imminent threat of war) to sentences of life imprisonment.

In the case of Öcalan, the ECtHR ruled in March 2003 that Turkey had violated Articles 3, 5 and 6 of the ECHR concerning the applicant's complaints relating in particular to the death penalty, and his detention and trial. However, in July 2003 both Öcalan and the Turkish Government took steps to pursue this case further before the Grand Chamber.

With regard to the prevention of torture and ill-treatment the Government has committed itself to a policy of "zero tolerance" with respect to torture. Legislation in this area has been considerably strengthened. While implementation has led to some concrete results, the situation is uneven and torture cases persist.

Articles 243 (torture) and 245 (ill-treatment) of the Penal Code have been amended under the fourth reform package so as to prevent sentences for torture and ill-treatment from being suspended or converted into fines.

In January 2003 the Law on the Trial of Civil Servants and other Public Officials, and Article 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedures were amended, lifting the requirement to obtain permission from superiors in order to open investigations on public officials in cases of torture and ill-treatment. However, permission is still required in order to open investigations when certain other crimes are alleged, such as extra-judicial executions, disappearances and destruction of property.

As part of the fourth reform package, Decree 430 - which, in provinces under emergency rule, enables detainees to be taken out of prison and returned to police custody for up to ten days for investigation purposes - was amended. The period has been reduced from ten to four days each time an individual is returned to police custody. It should be noted, however, that emergency rule was lifted in all provinces on 30 November 2002. Access to a lawyer and health checks are now guaranteed when detainees are taken out of prisons for interrogation. The decision of a judge, who must see the detainee in question, is required before permission is granted to take individuals from prisons or detention houses.

The fourth reform package repealed Paragraph 4 of Article 16 of the Law on the Establishment and Trial Procedures of State Security Courts. The reforms grant defendants under the competence of the State Security Courts - like all other defendants - access to a lawyer as from the outset of deprivation of liberty. Provisions preventing lawyers from being present during statement taking when they are defending those being tried under the competence of State Security Courts, have been repealed under the sixth reform package. Changes in the rules of procedure with regard to State Security Courts have eliminated incommunicado detention (see also Section B.1.2. -- Democracy and the rule of law -- The judicial system). The seventh reform package further amends the Code of Criminal Procedures by giving priority to torture and ill-treatment cases, which will be considered to be urgent cases by the courts. In order to reduce the risk of impunity, hearings can be conducted during judicial recess and cannot be adjourned for more than 30 days, unless there are compelling reasons to do so.

The Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice have distributed circulars to the relevant authorities informing them of the various changes made to the legislation and calling for their implementation.

There have been a number of important judicial decisions with respect to torture and ill-treatment. This includes the Manisa case (in which ten police officers were accused of torturing 16 youths) which ended in April 2003 with the Supreme Court confirming the policemen's sentences of between 60 and 130 months. More generally, the Supreme Court - in the context of a judgement on a torture case in late 2002 - has described torture and ill-treatment as a crime against humanity.

Turkey submitted its second report to the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) in May 2003, which covered the period 1990 - 2003.

However, concerns continue to be expressed with respect to the punishment of perpetrators of torture and ill-treatment. Cases continue to be dropped after trials are discontinued due to an elapse of time. The UN CAT has stated that, in spite of the large number of complaints, the prosecution and sanctioning of members of the security forces for torture and ill-treatment are rare; proceedings are often long; too much importance is given to confessions in criminal proceedings and sentences are not commensurate with the gravity of the crime. This was described as a form of impunity for security officers with regard to cases of torture and ill-treatment. The CAT also expressed its concern regarding the numerous and consistent allegations of torture and ill-treatment; inadequate registration; insufficient medical assistance and a lack of prompt notification of family members with respect to detainees held in police custody. In addition, the CAT recommended that measures be taken to guarantee prompt, impartial and full investigations into allegations of torture and ill-treatment and that the statute of limitations for crimes involving torture be repealed.

In June 2003 the report by the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) together with the response of the Turkish Government was published. The report was based on visits to Turkey by CPT delegations in March and September 2002. With respect to the implementation of recent legal reforms concerning custody by law enforcement agencies, the CPT concluded that, although there are isolated examples where the time of apprehension is not properly recorded, the shorter custody periods are being respected.

However, the CPT delegation found evidence of people in police custody being denied, discouraged, or not being informed about the possibility of having access to a lawyer, as well as of lawyers being prevented from meeting detainees in private and providing them with adequate legal counsel. Official sources show that, of those accused of crimes related to State Security Courts between 1 January and 31 March 2003, 1 954 of the 2 725 people accused did not seek to talk to their lawyers. It also should be noted that in some towns, no legal counsel is available.

With respect to medical examinations of persons in police custody, the same report found that the system does not necessarily act as a safeguard against torture or ill-treatment, and that the stipulation enabling the detained person to request the presence of security forces during examination leaves the system open to abuse, as pressure may be placed upon the detainee. As far as prisons are concerned, the report reiterated concerns that all medical examinations, not simply those undertaken when prisoners are admitted, should take place outside the hearing range and - unless the doctor concerned requests otherwise - beyond the view of custodial staff.

Some sources suggest that pressure is applied to doctors so that torture cases are not supported with medical certificates and that certificates are sometimes destroyed or confiscated by police officers who are not satisfied with a doctor's assessment.

There are still reports of ill-treatment, including disappearances, abductions, arbitrary detentions, and the excessive use of force against demonstrators. Violence against women is of particular concern: one recent example occurred on 14 June 2003 when a women's representative of DEHAP in Istanbul, Ms Gülbahar Gündüz, was reportedly abducted, blindfolded, raped and tortured by individuals claiming to be police officers.

With regard to the case of the two HADEP officials who disappeared in 2001 after visiting a police station in Silopi, the ECtHR sent a delegation to Ankara in April 2003 to conduct an inquiry.

With regard to the reform of the prison system, the general situation has improved considerably.

The Penal Code has been reformed. Two new offences were introduced in February 2003 with the aim of increasing security in prisons and preventing hunger strikes. Article 307/a of the Penal Code introduces prison sentences of between two and five years for persons convicted of bringing or using weapons and certain communication devices into prisons. Article 307/b introduces sentences of one to three years for those convicted of offences such as preventing prisoners and detainees from meeting a lawyer or friends. The article also makes it an offence to prevent prisoners and detainees from being fed; those who commit this offence will be sentenced to between two and four years or, should somebody die as a result of malnutrition, to 10 to 20 years.

A number of articles of the Law on the Administration of Prisons and Detention Houses were also amended in February 2003 with regard to the provision of food and entry into prisons. An amendment to Article 4 relates to prisoners and detainees who are on "death fast" and refuse food. The law stipulates that they shall be informed by the prison doctor about the physical and psychological consequences of their actions. If any serious health danger arises, they shall be taken to hospital - if necessary against their will.

Although there are still reports of isolated cases of "death fasts", the number has declined considerably. Official sources state that there are currently no "death fasters" in prisons, although five convicts remain on "death fast" in hospital. The President has pardoned 171 prisoners involved in "death fasts", the sentences of 391 prisoners have been suspended and another 80 prisoners have been released due to health problems. In the reporting period 9 prisoners on "death fast" died, raising the total number of deaths to 66.

A new curriculum for the in-service training of prison and detention house personnel was adopted by the Ministry of Justice in January 2003 with a focus on human rights and combating ill-treatment in particular.

According to official sources, as of 30 April 2003, there are 64173 persons in prisons and detention houses, of whom 32624 are convicted prisoners and 31549 are detainees.

A circular issued by the Ministry of Justice in October 2002 lifted all conditions attached to participation in communal social activities in line with the recommendations of the CPT. However, there are reports that isolation among certain groups of prisoners, whether self-imposed or not, continues in high-security F-type prisons. Access to telephones (ten-minute phone calls every week) and the right to open visits in F-type prisons have improved considerably.

There are reports that lawyers and visitors have encountered difficulties meeting prisoners and that prisoners are not receiving appropriate medical treatment. The trials of the 1 600 Gendarmerie officers involved in the operation to transfer prisoners from Bayrampaoa Prison to the new F-Type prisons in December 2000 and of 161 security personnel allegedly responsible for the deaths of 10 inmates at Ulucanlar Closed Prison in September 1999 are ongoing.

As far as the upgrading of the physical infrastructure of prisons is concerned, official sources state that the transition from a ward to a cell-based prison system is nearing completion. Four more F-Type prisons have now been constructed, bringing the total to 10. A new women's prison is being built in Bakirköy-Istanbul.

A new school in Ankara for training prison staff is now functional and two new schools in Istanbul and Erzurum are expected to become operational soon.

The 129 Prison Monitoring Boards, established in 2001, continue to carry out inspections on living conditions, transfers and disciplinary measures in penal institutions. The Prison Monitoring Boards have made a large number of recommendations, focusing on living conditions, health, food, education and rehabilitation of prisoners. It is reported that the work of the Boards has led to some improvements in prisoners' conditions in these areas. More sensitive issues, such as those relating to ill-treatment and isolation, are not dealt with by the Prison Monitoring Boards.

Since the establishment of the "enforcement judge" system in 2001, 8 998 complaints on actions taken in respect to prisoners and detainees have been made to the 140 enforcement judges. Of the applications, 2 644 have been accepted and acted upon, 244 have been partially accepted and acted upon and 610 have been rejected by the enforcement judges. A large number of the applications (3 794) concerned disciplinary punishment.

There are concerns that the decisions of the enforcement judges are not always properly followed up and rejections are sometimes made arbitrarily. There are also indications that transmission of complaints to enforcement judges is not confidential and that applications are screened by the prison administrations. As a result, there is a risk that not all complaints are dealt with.

With regard to freedom of expression, a number of existing restrictions have been lifted. This has led to both acquittals and the release of a number of prisoners sentenced for the non-violent expression of opinion. However, despite legislative changes, some problems remain.

Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law ("propaganda against the indivisible unity of the state") was repealed as part of the sixth reform package.

As part of the seventh reform package, the minimum sentence under Article 159 of the Penal Code ("insulting the state and state institutions and threats to the indivisible unity of the Turkish Republic") has been reduced from one year to six months. The amendment confirms the August 2002 revision to the Article, which exempted from punishment the expression of opinions intended only to criticise, and not intended to "insult" and "deride" these institutions.

The seventh package also narrowed the scope of Article 169 of the Penal Code ("aiding and abetting terrorist organisations") by removing the provision sanctioning "actions which facilitated the operation of terrorist organisations in any manner whatsoever". Furthermore, the seventh package strengthens last year's amendments to Article 7 of the Anti-Terror Law which introduced the notion of "propaganda in connection with the (terrorist) organisation in a way that encourages the use of terrorist methods", by replacing "terrorist methods" with "resorting to violence or other terrorist means". Fines have been increased ten-fold, and the length of prison sentences - which were increased last year - remains at one to five years.

Amendments to the Cinema, Video and Music Works Law were made under the sixth reform package. The scope for suspending or banning works in these fields has been narrowed to cover only offences considered to undermine the fundamental characteristics of the Republic and the indivisible integrity of the state. Any administrative decision to suspend a work in these fields must now be confirmed by a judge within 24 hours. A National Security Council representative will no longer be entitled to a place on the board of supervision (see Section B.1.2. -- Democracy and the rule of law -- concerning the National Security Council).

However, as announced by the Turkish government, the process of reviewing existing legal restrictions in this area has yet to be completed. In a report assessing the 3 November 2002 elections, the OSCE/ODIHR concluded that the broader legal framework and its implementation establish strict limits on the scope of political debate in Turkey. Non-violent expression of political views beyond these limits is still restricted by a variety of laws and is rigorously enforced.

As mentioned above, there is still a tendency for prosecutors to use alternative provisions of the Penal Code (Articles 312 and 169) and of the Anti Terror Law (Article 7) to limit freedom of expression. In addition, in several instances, alternative provisions were used to launch cases against individuals who had just been acquitted on the basis of the amended legislation. Even when convictions are overturned in accordance with the amended legislation, full legal redress is not automatically ensured.

The process of interpretation and implementation of the amended legislation should be pursued in a consistent and systematic manner in order to address the situation of all persons prosecuted and convicted for non-violent expression of opinion.

As regards freedom of the press, the situation continues to give rise to concern in spite of some legislative changes. The fourth reform package amended Article 15 of the Press Law. The amendment contains provisions that protect the owners of periodicals, editors and writers from being forced to reveal their sources.

As part of the seventh reform package, Articles 426 and 427 of Law No 765 were amended. A paragraph has been added to Article 426 in order to exempt scientific and artistic works, and "works of literary value" from the scope of the article, which bans publications on the grounds of moral principles. Under Article 427, confiscated publications can no longer be destroyed or burned on the grounds of "hurting people's feelings" or "exploiting people's sexual desires".

With respect to the effect of reforms in practice, the implementation of amended Articles 159 and 312 of the Turkish Penal Code, and of Article 7 of the Anti-Terror Law is not uniform. Heavy penalties, including imprisonment are reportedly inflicted at times upon journalists, authors and publishers who criticise state institutions and policies, or publish the statements of certain political groups.

Official data indicate that prosecution under the Press Law has diminished. However, reports indicate the continued confiscation of publications and printing equipment, the suspension of publishing houses and the imposition of heavy fines on publishers and printers. There is also strict censorship of internet content.

The ongoing process of reviewing legislation related to freedom of the press should be pursued in a comprehensive manner, encompassing all legislation that impacts upon freedom of the press.

In the field of broadcasting, reforms permitting radio and TV broadcasts in languages other than Turkish have not yet led to any concrete result.

A Regulation on the Language of Radio and TV Broadcasts was issued in December 2002 to implement the changes introduced in August 2002. The Regulation permits the state broadcasting corporation, TRT, to broadcast in languages and dialects traditionally used by Turkish citizens.

The Regulation states that broadcasting in these languages may take place for four hours per week on radio and two hours per week on television and the programmes can only be aimed at adults on the subjects of news, culture and music. It states that broadcasts cannot contravene the fundamental characteristics of the Republic and the indivisible integrity of the state. The Regulation also provides that the radio programme must be followed by a complete Turkish translation, that television broadcasts must have subtitles in Turkish, and that individuals in television broadcasts must wear modern clothes.

However, the Regulation could not be implemented for legal reasons related to the autonomous status of TRT.

As a result, in the sixth reform package, a legislative amendment was introduced extending the possibility of broadcasting in languages and dialects used by Turkish citizens in their daily lives to private stations, in addition to the TRT. The procedures and principles of this amendment are to be outlined in a regulation, which must be published by the High Audio-Visual Board (RTÜK) by November 2003. The amendment also states that restrictions on the broadcasting of election propaganda are to be shortened from one week to twenty-four hours before an election.

Thus, there have not yet been any broadcasts in languages traditionally used by Turkish citizens in their daily lives other than Turkish.

RTÜK continued to impose heavy penalties (including the suspension or cancellation of the broadcasting licence) upon private radio and television stations accused of violating certain principles of the state relating, for instance, to separatist propaganda and incitement to hatred. For example, in June, Cinar Television, based in Van, was closed for one month for having broadcast the speech of the President of the Rights and Freedoms Party (HAK-PAR) during his visit to Van. TRT broadcast the same speech without encountering such difficulties.

As regards freedom of association, restrictions were eased following amendments under the fourth and seventh reform packages. However, significant limitations remain, including in relation to the establishment of associations on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sect, region, or any other minority group. Changes did not lead to the adoption of a clear framework addressing the main problems faced by associations.

The Law on Associations has been amended under the fourth reform package, enabling associations to use any language in their non-official correspondence and allowing legal entities (in addition to individuals) to become members of associations. Restrictions on making announcements or distributing publications have been eased. The obligation to forward copies of these documents to the relevant authorities prior to distribution, including to the public prosecutor, has been removed.

Any decision taken by the provincial administrative authorities regarding the confiscation of associations' declarations, announcements, and other publications is now subject to confirmation by a judge within 48 hours. In the absence of such confirmation, the decision is invalidated.

The seventh package also eased the restrictions on the establishment of associations by people convicted for certain crimes, and for those who had previously been members of an association or political party that was closed down by a court decision. Higher education students are now entitled to establish associations that not only relate to educational and recreational matters, but also to art, culture, and science.

Following amendments to the Civil Code and the Law on Foundations, Turkish associations and foundations can now open branches abroad and join international or foreign bodies. These are now permitted to operate and to open branches in Turkey after receiving permission from the Ministry of the Interior in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As foreseen in the August 2002 reform package a Department of Associations was established in August 2003 to perform tasks hereto entrusted to the Directorate General of Security.

A positive development has been the Ankara State Security Court judgement of March 2003 acquitting defendants in connection with the court case launched against German foundations and NGO representatives for allegations of "involvement in activities against the national unity and secular structure of the country".

However, associations face problems with respect to closure of offices and branches and suspension of activities. In practice, they still experience considerable difficulties in co-operating with foreign associations and international bodies, including the receipt of funds.

Human rights organisations and defenders have had numerous court cases brought against them. Although the majority of cases have resulted in acquittals or the sentence being commuted to a fine or suspended, human rights defenders feel that the number of cases amounts to harassment by the authorities. It is estimated that there are currently 500 cases pending against human rights defenders.

In May 2003 the headquarters and offices of the Human Rights Association's Ankara branch were searched by the Anti-Terror Branch of the Ankara Security Directorate after a warrant was issued by the Ankara State Security Court, reportedly on the basis of Article 169 of the Penal Code. During the search the hard discs of computers, video cassettes, CDs, documents and registration books were confiscated. No lawsuit has yet been issued.

With respect to peaceful assembly, existing restrictions have been eased.

In line with the amendments made as part of the third reform package, the October 2002 Regulation on the implementation of the Law on Public Meetings and Demonstration Marches confirmed a reduction in the minimum amount of time required to request permission to hold a demonstration from 72 to 48 hours. The age limit for organising a demonstration has been reduced from 21 to 18.

The seventh reform package limits the ability of Governors to postpone meetings. Meetings can be banned only in cases where there is a "clear and imminent threat of a criminal offence being committed". Official figures indicate that, in 2002, 95 demonstrations were prohibited or postponed, as compared to 141 in 2001.

There have been cases of local authorities using excessive force against protestors. One example concerns police firing shots into the air and injuring people by driving a police car into a crowd, which gathered to demonstrate following the Bingöl earthquake of May 2003.

As regards political parties, under the fourth reform package a number of changes were made to the Law on Political Parties mainly in order to align this with the constitutional amendment of October 2001. These include provisions making it more difficult to dissolve political parties. In order to close a political party, a "three-fifths majority" in the Constitutional Court is now required.

Following an amendment to Article 100 of the same law, a case for dissolving a political party may only be filed for "reasons stipulated in the Constitution". Article 102 of the law has also been amended so as to give a right to appeal against the request of the Public Prosecutor of the Court of Appeals to dissolve a party. An amendment to Article 104 provides for the possibility of imposing sanctions other than closure upon political parties. Under the revised Article, political parties can be deprived "partially or fully of state assistance". Furthermore, Article 11 of the law has been amended so as to increase minimum imprisonment sentences for violations of the law, from three to five years.

Several political parties have been subject to legal action with a view to their closure. In March 2003, the Constitutional Court unanimously ruled to permanently dissolve the People's Democratic Party (HADEP). According to the authorities, the new measures concerning the deprivation of state assistance were not applicable as HADEP did not reach the 10% electoral threshold necessary to benefit from state funding. HADEP was banned on the basis of Article 169 of the Penal Code and 46 members of the party were prevented from engaging in political activities for a period of five years. Other cases have been filed at the Constitutional Court for the dissolution of the Democratic People's Party (DEHAP), the Rights and Freedoms Party (HAK-PAR) and the Socialist Workers' Party of Turkey. In September, the Supreme Court ruled that DEHAP was responsible for submitting forged documents with a view to participating in the November 2002 elections. The Supreme Electoral Board decided that this would not impact the validity of the aforementioned elections.

In February 2003, the ECtHR confirmed its judgement of July 2001, according to which the closure of the Welfare Party (Refah Partisi) in 1998 was not in violation of the ECHR [10].

[10] Case of Refah Partisi (The Welfare Party) and others v. Turkey (Applications nos. 41340/98, 41342/98, 41343/98 and 41344/98).

With respect to the