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European Commission recommends weak response to Turkey failures

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  • European Commission recommends weak response to Turkey failures

    EUROPEAN ARMENIAN FEDERATION
    for Justice and Democracy
    Avenue de la Renaissance 10
    B-1000 Bruxelles
    Tel: +322 732 70 26
    Tel/Fax: +322 732 70 27
    Email: [email protected]

    PRESS RELEASE
    November 30, 2006
    Contact: Vartenie ECHO
    Tel: +322 732 70 26


    THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION RECOMMENDS WEAK RESPONSE TO TURKEY FAILURES

    -- The Commission suggests only half-measures, consisting in
    temporary
    suspension of technical chapters of the negotiation process --

    BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - The European Commission recommended on Wednesday
    29th November the suspension of 8 of the 35 tracks, or chapters, of
    Turkey's negotiation process toward joining the European Union.
    Moreover, the Commission recommended that no already opened chapter
    "be provisionally closed".

    The eight tracks suspended by the Commission are largely technical in
    nature. The Commission refrained from suspending the remaining 27
    tracks. In taking these steps, the Commission alleges to give an
    appropriate response to Turkey's intransigence - particularly its
    refusal to ratify the Ankara protocol which would have meant the
    implicit recognition of Cyprus.

    As a consequence, the suspended chapters are those which are linked
    to some extent to Cyprus issues: freedom of movement of goods (§1),
    right of establishment and freedom to provide services (§3),
    financial services (§9), agriculture and rural development (§11),
    fisheries (§13), transport (§14), customs union (§29) and external
    relations (§30).

    "The Commission has fallen far short of its obligations to enforce
    Turkey's compliance or to punish its flagrant violation of its own
    commitments across a broad range of issues. Europeans expect the
    Commission to act in a more principled and responsible manners on
    this core matter concerning the future of the Union," said the
    Chairperson of the European Armenian Federation, Mrs Hilda Tchoboian.


    The European Armenian Federation considers these half-measures a
    clear retreat from the Council's own decision in December of 2004,
    which firmly established the terms of the negotiation framework.
    This understanding stipulated that, in case of serious and persistent
    violation of the principles on which the Union is based, the
    Commission must fully suspend its negotiations with Turkey.

    Seeking to explain its decision, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement
    declared that "we have agreed that these negotiations have to move
    forward at a less rapid pace. There will be no train wreck, but there
    is a clear slowing down of the process."

    "European civil society does not understand why the Commission keeps
    on acting as the hostage of Ankara's demands for double standards and
    special treatment. Far from demanding Turkey's compliance, the
    Commission is actively ignoring the recent European Parliament
    resolution regarding the conditions for the suspension of talks with
    Turkey," said Tchoboian. "As such, we call on Member States to
    recognize the Commissions moral failure and to enact measures of
    their own accord to ensure that the values and the standards of the
    Union are respected."
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