HARD BARGAIN
EU COMMISSIONER IS WORRIED ABOUT LAW DEFICIT IN TURKEY
EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn told Germany's Die Welt newspaper last week that the Commission should not focus on Turkey’s accession negotiations but rather on a strategic partnership, remarking that the EU cannot “ignore significant deficits in the rule of law in Turkey.” Hahn has made similar statements to Die WelT before, in April last year, for instance, prior to the publication of the EU Progress Report on Turkey.
As then, Hahn noted last week that Turkey is a "very important" neighbor for the EU with its "geostrategic location and dense population", and that "the EU and Turkey should focus on the development of a strategic partnership and not on accession negotiations in the coming years," as also suggested by President of France Emmanuel Macron.
Serving as the EU Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations since 2014, Hahn said that this partnership could consist of, "for instance, negotiations to expand the EU-Turkey Customs Union to include services and other sectors."
“Charm offens ve pol cy not enough”
Hahn told Die Welt that "the release of journalist Deniz Yucel does not alter concerns about problems in the rule of law in Turkey." Pointing out that thousands in Turkey reman under arrest, some still without indictment, Hahn added that the EU cannot "turn a blind eye to significant deficits in the rule of law in Turkey." Hahn also noted that Turkey's "charm offensive is not enough" in an environment where "politics clearly influence the judiciary" and emphasized that while Turkey has rule of law "according to its constitution", there are "serious deficits in practice.|
Dutch parl ament recogn zes 1915 Armen an ‘genoc de’
The Dutch parliament on Thursday passed a motion supporting Armenian allegations about the events of 1915, terming it as "genocide", though it added that it would not become the official policy of the Netherlands. The motion, which was opposed by just three lawmakers out of 150, risks further straining relations between The Hague and Ankara, which have been tense since the Dutch barred a Turkish minister from campaigning in the Netherlands last year.
Turkey denies that the killings, which took place at the height of World War One, constitute genocide. Turkey’s foreign ministry on Thursday condemned the Dutch parliament’s approval of a motion.