WRITTEN QUESTION P-2633/01 by Gian Gobbo (TDI) to the Council. Displays of hostility to the West in Turkey.
Date: 2001-09-20
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Islamic State, Türkiye, United States, accession to the European Union, commemoration, sporting event, terrorism

18.4.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 93 E/171

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(9 November 2001)

Decision No 1934/2000/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 17 July 2000 on the European Year of
Languages 2001 (1) stated that the measures envisaged ‘will cover the official languages of the Community,
together with Irish, Letzeburgesch, and other languages in line with those identified by the Member States
for the purposes of implementing this Decision.’ In practice, no Member State imposed any limits on the
languages considered eligible for support in the context of this initiative. Projects involving esperanto or
other artificial languages were evaluated on the same basis as other projects. Very few applications of this
kind were received and none was among those ultimately selected for financing.

(1) OJ L 232, 14.9.2000.

(2002/C 93 E/204)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2633/01

by Gian Gobbo (TDI) to the Council

(20 September 2001)

Subject: Displays of hostility to the West in Turkey

As a result of the recent tragic terrorist attacks against the United States, the European Union is having to
reconsider its foreign policy and, in particular, its relations with the Islamic world which is increasingly
influenced by a markedly anti-Western public opinion.

One significant illustration of this is the whistling which prevented the minute’s silence in memory of the
victims of the New York attack from taking place at the Galatasaray-Lazio football match on Tuesday
11 September in Istanbul. This regrettable incident is symptomatic of the fact that European values and
sentiments are alien to a large proportion of Turkish society and highlights the absurdity of Turkey’s
proposed accession to the European Union.

Does the Council not consider that it should ask the Turkish authorities to issue an explicit condemnation
of such displays of hostility to the West?

Reply

(10 December 2001)

The disruption of the minute’s silence in memory of the victims of the New York attack at the Galatasaray-
Lazio football match on 11 September was indeed a regrettable incident. It is clear, however that this
attitude is not shared by the Turkish Government, which unreservedly joined in the indignation and
solidarity expressed by the international community in the wake of the events of 11 September. The
Council rejects the conclusions that the Honourable Member seems to be drawing.

(2002/C 93 E/205)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2654/01

by Mario Mauro (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(21 September 2001)

Subject: Rice surpluses

The Management Committee for Cereals and Rice in Brussels has issued instructions whereby supplies of
paddy rice from the 97 and 98 marketing years stored in the European Community are to be used as
animal feed.

This concerns around 50 000 tonnes of paddy rice, equivalent to 30 000 tonnes of white rice, which
would be enough to feed 2-3 million people for a whole year.

Will the Commission explain the reasons for this decision, given that it is likely to leave many baffled in
view of the efforts being made to combat hunger in the world?