WRITTEN QUESTION E-0637/00

by Nelly Maes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(3 March 2000)

Subject: Recognition of Kurds as a minority and the accession of Turkey

Since the Helsinki summit in December 1999 Turkey has been accepted as a candidate state for accession to the European Union. The conditions for membership are democratisation, improvement of the human rights situation and respect for the criteria of

the Copenhagen Treaty. The latter implies recognition of the rights of cultural minorities. The European Parliament has already stressed the need for recognition of the rights of the Kurds as a people in Turkey. The recognition of the Kurds as a minority signifies a step towards the acquisition of cultural rights.

The Copenhagen Treaty criteria are not very detailed, which leaves room for interpretation. According to statements by the Prime Minister, Mr Ecevit, at the Helsinki conference, Turkey is making efforts to encourage the achievement of democratisation. With regard to the recognition of the Kurdish language, the position of the Prime Minister is, however, that Turkey's approach to south-eastern Turkey will change when separatism is no longer an issue there. Such statements indicate that Ecevit will make full use of the grey area with regard to whether or not the Kurds should be granted cultural rights.

There is a danger that vague concessions by Turkey would bring about accession to the European Union. However it is clear that the measures which the Turkish state has adopted so far are not adequate either for Turkey to be seen as a democratic country or for the rights of the Kurds as a minority, let alone as a people, to be guaranteed.

Can the Commission indicate its position on the extent to which Turkey fulfils the accession criteria? What is the Commission's view on the rights of the Kurds as a cultural minority? What are the Commission's views on the extent to which Turkey meets the criteria of the Copenhagen Treaty and the recognition of the rights of the Kurds as a cultural minority? What measures will the Commission take to monitor the developments in Turkey with regard to accession and the related criteria?

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(27 March 2000)

In its last regular report adopted in October 1999(1), the Commission concluded: Recent developments confirm that, although the basic features of a democratic system exist in Turkey, it still does not meet the Copenhagen political criteria. There are serious shortcomings in terms of human rights and protection of minorities [mldr].

Concerning the question of Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin, the regular report reiterated the opinion contained in the 1998 report that a civil solution could include recognition of certain forms of Kurdish cultural identity and greater tolerance of the ways of expressing that identity, provided it does not advocate separatism or terrorism.

A centrepiece of the new pre-accession strategy for Turkey, launched at the European Council in Helsinki in December 1999, is the accession partnership (AP) to be prepared by the Commission before adoption by the Council. The aim of this AP is mainly to set out priorities to be implemented by Turkey in all the fields of the Copenhagen criteria (including the political field) in order to prepare Turkey for Union membership. The monitoring of the implementation of the AP priorities will be regularly done, through appropriate mechanisms such as the association committee as well as in the annual regular reports.

(1) COM(1999) 514 final.