Turkey Passes Taboo-Breaking Reforms to Come Closer to EU

Turkish MPs voting the reform package.

ANKARA, Aug 3 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Turkish legislators passed Saturday, August 3, 2002, crucial reforms, among them the abolition of the death penalty and Kurdish cultural freedoms, breaking one-time taboos to boost the Muslim nation's much-coveted bid to join the European Union, news agencies reported.

Ending a decades old discussion in the country between opponents and supporters of capital punishment, the landmark move is seen as a step closer to the European Union, reported Turkish daily newspaper The Turkish Daily News.

Despite bitter opposition from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and some reservations by the pro-Islamic Justice and Development Party, Parliament, handling a reform package, voted Friday 256 to 162 with one abstention to lift the death penalty.

Although deputies voted overwhelmingly to lift the death penalty, a final vote on the whole package was not expected to come before the early hours of today and only after the whole package is approved the death penalty would be lifted from the Turkish judicial system.

The measure would replace the death penalty with life imprisonment, although capital punishment would remain in the books to be used in times of war or during the "imminent threat of war."

The reform package, a last-gasp effort to come closer to E.U. norms before MPs fan out for electioneering ahead of early polls in November, was endorsed in a non-stop session of 16 hours, which started Friday, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"This is a historical day. We did a historical job and we should be proud," deputy Ali Tekin said in the parliament, where tempers ran high throughout the legislative marathon and harsh arguments often marked the debate.

Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, the champion of the reforms, said: "Turkey made a giant step on the road to the European Union."

The reforms will undoubtedly send a strong signal over crisis-ridden Turkey's commitment to Western democracy values. However, it is far from certain whether they will guarantee Ankara's target to obtain a date for opening accession talks with the E.U. by the end of 2002.

A crippled democracy and a troubled human rights record have long impeded the E.U. integration aspirations of the traditionally pro-western Muslim nation, also a NATO member.

Ending the death penalty in peacetime - the first article in the package that will save jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan from the gallows - won unexpected support in the house Friday and set the pace for other critical changes.

The deputies endorsed one-time taboos such as radio and television broadcasts in the language of the sizeable Kurdish minority and allowed private courses to teach Kurdish.

The reforms have been highly controversial for a nation traumatized by a bloody struggle between Ocalan's rebels and the army that claimed some 36,500 lives since 1984.

Other reforms scrapped penalties for criticizing state institutions, among them the army, and jail punishment for offences committed through the press; eased restrictions on demonstrations and associations; allowed non-Muslim religious foundations to buy real estate, and toughened measures against illegal immigration.

The bulk of opposition votes came from Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's senior partner and the biggest political force in parliament, the far-right Nationalist Action Party (MHP), which desperately maneuvered to impede the debate.

"We denounce these laws which award with life the baby-murderer Ocalan," MHP deputy Ahmet Cakar shouted.

The MHP also said that expanded minority freedoms could fan nationalist sentiment among the Kurds and rekindle the recently subdued conflict in the southeast.

"This is the first step of a separatist project," said another MHP legislator, Koray Aydin.

The rift over the reforms in Ecevit's three-party coalition climaxed in a government crisis last month, deepening earlier tensions over Ecevit's failure to fully carry out his duties owing to ill health.

The turmoil, which imperiled vital IMF-backed economic reforms, forced Ecevit to reluctantly agree to early elections.

MPs were under strong pressure from the business community and the mainstream media to pass the reforms.

A platform of business groups set up a symbolic clock on the gates of the parliament to start a countdown towards the E.U. summit in Copenhagen in December, when the European bloc is to draw up its enlargement calendar.

Braving the risk to alienate nationalist voters in the November polls, the majority of opposition MPs backed the reforms and effectively ensured their endorsement.

Some observers say the reforms will not be a blank cheque for accession talks, particularly when the long-standing Cyprus conflict remains unresolved.

Since 1974, Turkey has held the northern third of the island, whose internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot side is a front-runner for E.U. membership.

Turkey wants the E.U. to set a firm date by the end of the year when the country can start membership talks. However, Brussels insists reforms should be passed and implemented before it could consider such a move, reported the BBC.
   

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