GOT RESPONDS TO EU CRITICS BY ANNOUNCING REFORM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 002053

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/14/2026
TAGS: OSCE PGOV PHUM PREL EU TU
SUBJECT: GOT RESPONDS TO EU CRITICS BY ANNOUNCING REFORM
PACKAGE

REF: A. 05 ANKARA 2750

B. 05 ANKARA 3887

Classified by DCM Nancy McEldowney; reasons 1.4 b and d.


1. (C) Summary: Turkish FM Gul announced April 12 a package
of political reforms Turkey plans to adopt to advance its EU
candidacy. GOT contacts say the announcement was a response
to unfair criticism from the EU that Turkey's reform process
has stalled. They argue that the criticism reflects EU
ambivalence about Turkey, rather than actual GOT
shortcomings. EU contacts maintain that top GOT officials
appear to have lost faith in the accession process, and are
failing to demonstrate the kind of leadership needed to
implement reforms. End Summary.

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Gul Announces Reform Package
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2. (U) Gul said Turkey will enact a series of EU-related
legal and administrative reforms before Parliament recesses
in July. Promised reform measures include:

-- Minority Foundations: A new Law on Foundations will enable
non-Muslim communities to reclaim some of the properties
expropriated by the state over the years. EU officials have
reviewed drafts of this bill and warned the GOT that it falls
short of EU standards, though it is an improvement over
current legislation (reftels). One of the main sticking
points for the EU is the fact that the bill, in its current
form, would not allow the non-Muslim communities to reclaim
properties that the state has expropriated and sold to third
parties, nor would it provide compensation for such seizures.
It is not clear whether the bill will be revised
significantly before Parliament adopts it.

-- Ombudsman: A government ombudsman's office will be
established, to receive complaints by citizens regarding
government services.

-- Military Audits: A law will be enacted allowing the Court
of Accounts to review military expenditures. The GOT in 2004
amended the Constitution to allow for such audits; new
legislation is needed to implement this reform.

-- Minority Schools: Parliament will annul a law that
effectively requires religious minority schools to appoint a
Muslim Turk as vice principal.

-- Roma: Parliament will annul a law stating that "nomadic
Gypsies" are not eligible to immigrate to the country.

-- Political Ethics: New legislation will require political
parties to disclose more information about how they raise and
spend funds. Political leaders will be required to disclose
their personal wealth. Parliament will establish a Political
Ethics Commission.

-- Anti-Corruption: An existing commission headed by a
Cabinet member will be tasked with coordinating
anti-corruption efforts.

-- Military Courts: Legislative reforms will prohibit
military courts from trying civilians, except in cases
involving crimes committed by both civilians and military
personnel.

-- Human Rights Institution: The GOT will establish an
independent human rights monitoring body.


3. (U) The GOT is also preparing a separate package of
economic reforms.

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A Response to Critics
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4. (C) Ahmet Dogan, political affairs director at the GOT's
Secretariat General for EU Affairs, told us Gul's

SIPDIS
announcement was a response to critics in the EU who have
asserted that Turkey has lost momentum in the political
reform process since starting accession talks in October

2005. None of the reforms announced by Gul are new
initiatives -- they have all been in the pipeline for months.
The GOT wanted to call attention to them to demonstrate its
commitment to the EU process, he said.


5. (C) Dogan said he and his colleagues reject claims that
the GOT has slowed the reform process. Between 2001 and
2005, he noted, the GOT adopted a wide range of EU-related
legislation. These included a complete overhaul of Turkey's
three primary criminal laws -- the Penal Code, the Criminal
Procedure Code, and the Execution of Punishments Law. The
GOT, he said, has adopted nearly all the specific legislation
required by the EU in relation to the Copenhagen Criteria for
political reform. What it needs to do now is implement the
new laws and "transform mentalities" in the bureaucracy, and
that will take time. "We have made revolutionary legal
changes. The EU has to realize that it will take time for us
to implement these changes," he said.


6. (C) Dogan believes the EU criticism reflects opposition to
Turkish membership, rather than actual GOT shortcomings.
"What some member states really want to do is put obstacles
in our way. But they can't say that, so instead they accuse
us of losing interest in reforms," he said.


7. (U) European contacts in Ankara acknowledge that the EU
can no longer point to specific legal reforms Turkey must
adopt to meet the political criteria for membership. The EU
set out general political guidelines for Turkey when it
revised the Accession Partnership Agreement in December 2005.
The Agreement lists a series of political reforms Turkey is
expected to adopt by the end of 2007. However, the only
specific legislation required is the above-noted Law on
Foundations. Many of the criteria call on Turkey in more
general terms to implement reforms -- the word "implement"
appears frequently throughout the text. Other examples
include criteria urging Turkey to "ensure effective,
transparent and participatory local government," "ensure
consistent interpretation of legal provisions...related to
human rights and fundamental freedoms," and "fully commit at
all levels to the fight against corruption." Each of the
reform measures announced by Gul addresses some element of
the criteria.

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EU Sees Lack of Leadership
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8. (C) In some cases, GOT legal reforms have fallen short of
EU standards. For example, despite extensive amendments, the
new Penal Code still prohibits speech that "denigrates" the
Turkish government and state, "Turkish identity," or Ataturk.
But EU contacts say the most alarming deficiencies are found
not in the laws, but in the leadership. A German diplomat
told us that PM Erdogan, Gul, and other top GOT officials
used to speak regularly in favor of EU membership and human
rights reforms. For the past year or so, however, it appears
that Turkish leaders are no longer willing to adopt this
tone, he said. For example, when novelist Orhan Pamuk was on
trial for making controversial comments, GOT leaders failed
to make strong statements defending freedom of speech. And
when Istanbul police used brutal tactics against
demonstrators during International Women's Day in March 2005,
most government officials responded defensively to criticism
rather than promising a thorough investigation. This
approach, according to our German colleague, gives the
impression that the GOT is no longer committed to the EU
process, and is unwilling to take even minor political risks
to defend it.


9. (C) A UK diplomat told us the GOT has not yet adjusted to
the changed nature of the accession process now that talks
have begun. In the earlier stages, the EU would pressure the

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GOT to adopt specific legal reforms, and the Turks would
comply at the last minute, shortly before an upcoming EU
summit or progress report. At this point, the political
reform requirements are more broadly defined, and the GOT
must figure out for itself how it will meet them.

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Comment: Lack of Vision
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10. (C) The GOT has enacted impressive legal reforms in
pursuit of EU membership, and leaders of the ruling Justice
and Development Party (AKP) appreciate the tactical
advantages of maintaining Turkey's status as a candidate
country. But very few in AKP have a clear vision of
transforming Turkey into a European country. Without such a
vision, it will be difficult for the GOT to face the mounting
obstacles on the EU path. The EU is suffering from
enlargement fatigue, and some member states are keen to make
life difficult for the Turks. In Turkey, meanwhile,
nationalist sentiment is on the rise, and support for EU
membership, while still over 50 percent, is declining. The
AKP's Islamist base has lost interest in the EU, frustrated
by European attitudes toward Islamic headscarves in schools
and the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. These factors have
set in motion a vicious circle: the GOT, skeptical about EU
sincerity, takes minimal reform steps, and the EU, in turn,
points to this lackluster effort to justify doubts about
Turkey's commitment.


11. (C) Gul's reform announcement created a badly needed
bounce, but the momentum will quickly run out unless GOT
leaders rally public support for the EU process and inspire
the bureaucracy to adopt the reforms in letter and spirit.






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