Turkey in the EU

"All member states continue to support accession negotiations with Turkey," EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday, Oct. 24. "We should therefore open further chapters [of talks] without delay, as soon as they are technically ready."

Rehn announced that "at least two chapters could be open in the coming weeks." The "chapters" -- subjects on which candidate countries have to satisfy EU rules -- would most likely be in the fields of consumer and health protection and transport, he said.

Turkey has managed to open just four accession chapters, only one of which has been satisfactorily completed. That figure pales next to the 14 chapters opened with Croatia, which began its EU talks at the same time as Turkey.

Rehn's call could spark a row with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has repeatedly suggestion that largely Muslim Turkey does not culturally belong in the European Union.

Sarkozy repeated his opinion last week during an EU meeting in Lisbon that the EU should not open any new accession negotiation chapters with Turkey until a committee of "wise men," who would think about the future role and borders of the EU, is put in place.

New Turkey report

Rehn indicated that his annual report on Turkey's progress towards the EU, to be delivered on Nov. 6, would be "objective and fair."

Last year's very critical version led to the freezing of eight of the 35 policy chapters which EU candidate nations must successfully negotiate prior to membership.

Ankara began talks with the European Union in October 2005, but they have been severely hampered by Turkey's refusal to open its ports and airports to Cypriot vessels, which led the EU to suspend negotiations in eight chapters related to trade and the economy.

"[When] we are firm we also must be fair, we have to keep our word and stick to the accession perspective," Rehn said.

His change of tone follows a popular vote in Turkey on Sunday which approved sweeping constitutional reforms.

The reforms provide for the head of state to be elected by popular suffrage for a once-renewable five-year term, instead of being chosen by parliament for a single seven-year mandate.

It also sets legislative elections for every four years instead of the current five.

"The [European] Commission welcomes the fact that the government has put the constitutional reform at the top of its agenda with a view to improving democracy and expanding individual freedoms," Rehn said.

Turkey needs to do more

However, he warned that "further efforts" were needed "to ensure democratic supremacy in civil-military relations, protect the rights of women, children and trade unions, improve the judiciary system and enhance the fight against corruption."

Portugal, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, was also critical of Turkey, emphasizing that the government should scrap or change article 301 of its penal code, which makes it a criminal offence to "insult Turkishness." It was used in a now lapsed attempt to prosecute Nobel Prize-winning Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk.

"On freedom of expression, we regret the lack of progress. We are worried about growing nationalism leading to self-censorship," said Manuel Lobo Antunes, Portugal's secretary of state for EU affairs.

Turning to more urgent matters, Antunes also urged Turkey to think twice before launching military action in northern Iraq, following deadly attacks on Turkish troops from Kurdish rebels in the region.

"It's important that the international community supports Turkey in its efforts to counter terrorism, in respect of the law, without risking the stability of the region and the whole continent," Antunes said.