Slovenia to Support Turkey's Progress Towards EU
Slovenian parliamentary Speaker France Cukjati assured his Turkish counterpart Koeksal Toptan in Ljubljana on Tuesday that Slovenia supported Turkey's progress in the lengthy, multi-step EU accession talks.
Toptan expressed gratitude for Slovenia's support, which he said was especially important because Slovenia is now at the helm of the bloc.
Turkey is ready to open three new chapters in accession talks with the EU, and hopes to do so before the end of Slovenia's term as EU president, Toptan said at a joint press conference with Cukjati.
The latter promised Slovenia would do everything in its power to speed up the talks between Turkey and the EU. "We are friends," Cukjati added by way of explanation.
Turkey launched accession talks with the EU in October 2005 and has so far opened six out of 35 customary chapters, while negotiations on eight chapters have been suspended since the end of 2006 due to outstanding issues with Cyprus.
Commenting on the disagreements with Cyprus, Toptan said Turkey would find it hard to remove its embargo on southern Cyprus while the EU maintained an embargo on the northern part of the divided island.
Ankara has been unwilling to open its air and sea ports to Cypriot planes and ships. It refuses to extend its customs union with the EU to Cyprus until the bloc has lifted its embargo on the northern part of Cyprus, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is only recognised by Turkey.
The Turkish parliamentary speaker welcomed the recent meeting between the Cypriot president and the leader of Cypriot Turks, calling it a step forward.
Turkey needs to implement several reforms on its path towards the EU. One of the membership requirements is for the country to abolish or change Article 301 of the Turkish penal code, which restricts freedom of speech by banning that which "insults Turkishness".
Last week, the ruling AKP party put forward an amendment to the controversial article. Toptan highlighted three main changes: the term "Turkishness" would be replaced by the "Turkish nation"; any penalty handed down on the basis of the article would have to be endorsed by Turkey's president; and the highest penalty for violating this article would be reduced from three to two years in prison.
Asked about the consequences of a possible ban of the AKP by the Constitutional Court, Toptan said: "In a democracy, parties are founded by people and it is people which can ban them." He said the Constitution prevented the speaker of parliament to comment on cases before the Constitutional Court.
Asked whether he supported constitutional changes or an early election to avoid a constitutional crisis, Toptan said it was necessary to reach consensus over changes to the Constitution.
After talks with Cukjati, the Turkish speaker was scheduled to meet representatives of the parliamentary committees on foreign policy and EU affairs, as well as President Danilo Tuerk.
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