Constitution
have been amended in 2001 and many of these amendments actually
coincide with the provisions of our National Program. The package of
constitutional amendments covers a wide range of issues, such as
improving human rights, strengthening the rule of law and restructuring
of democratic institutions. This was only the initial step of the deep
political reform process that Turkey has initiated, which was soon
followed by complementary legislative and administrative measures to
ensure their implementation. After the
constitutional amendments, the Turkish Parliament adopted a new Civil
Code, which entered into force on 1 January 2002 and introduced
improvements notably as regards the freedom of association and the
right to assembly, as well as gender equality and child protection. The
efforts for reform were pursued by three legislative packages.
The first legislative package adopted in February
2002, amended various legislation, which was often referred to and
criticized as being the legal basis for the detention and sentencing of
many intellectuals for expressing their views. The second legislative
package, which entered into force in April 2002, extended further the
scope of the freedom of thought and speech, the freedom of the press,
the freedom of association and peaceful assembly. It reinforced
measures for the prevention of torture and illtreatment. It introduced
an effective deterrent against human rights violations by public
personnel. It also consolidated civil administration. The third
legislative package, which entered into force in August 2002, was
considered as a landmark in itself. Abolishing the death penalty,
lifting legal restrictions on individual cultural rights, making
retrial possible in the light of the decisions of the European Court of
Human Rights, reinforcing legal guarantees on freedoms of expression
and press, easing restrictions on the right to association and peaceful
assembly, ensuring the right to property of community foundations
belonging to the minorities in Turkey, providing the legal basis needed
for the activities of foreign foundations in Turkey, introducing new
definitions and measures to deal with illegal immigration altogether
mark a radical break with the mentality of the past two decades which
was largely shaped by the fight against separatist terror. The new
government, which was formed after the general elections of 3 November
2002, prepared two further legislative packages. The first legislative
package, the socalled "Copenhagen Package", was submitted to the
Parliament on 3 December 2002. It was drafted with due regard to
the evaluation made in the 2002 Regular Report on Turkey. The purpose
of this package is to reinforce the reform process and eliminate
certain ambiguities, especially with respect to implementation. With
the adoption of this package, all legal impediments for the prosecution
of public officials who allegedly resort to torture and illtreatment
will be removed. In fact, the Turkish Government has offically declared
"zero tolerance" against torture and illtreatment and alerted all
public officials accordingly.
The second package of reforms was submitted to
the Parliament on 4 December. This package includes the expansion of
the scope of retrial arrangements on the basis of judgments rendered by
the European Court of Human Rights. The principle of retrial was
already introduced by the reform package adopted on August 3, 2002. The
new arrangement would expand its scope by making it applicable to cases
already finalized by the European Court of Human Rights. The package
also provides for the revocation of disciplinary actions taken against
university students since 2001. On the economic
front, numerous reform measures were equally adopted, in line with the
National Program and in response to the serious economic crisis that
Turkey went through in 2002. In terms of the economic criteria, Turkey
has restructured its financial sector, ensured transparency in public
finance, and is enhancing the competitiveness and efficiency of its
economy. The structural reforms have already started to yield tangible
results and considerable progress has been made in meeting the
priorities set in the National Program.
Work on the harmonization of Turkish legislation with the acquis also
continues unabated. Turkey's alignment with the Community acquis have
been analysed and developed since 2000 by eight subcommittees.
Laeken and Seville European Council Decisions The
Laeken European Council of 1415 December 2001 had important
implications for EUTurkey relations in general and the accession
process in particular. Foremost among these is the possibility of
opening accession negotiations with Turkey, which for the first time
has been explicitly mentioned at the highest levels. Another important
decision taken at Laeken was that, Turkey began to take part in the
Convention on the Future of Europe on an equal basis with the other
candidates. This was considered as a progressive step, in the sense
that Turkey was considered as part of the Union's common future.
The Seville European Council of 2122 June 2002
welcomed the reforms adopted in Turkey and stated that "the
implementation of the required political and economic reforms will
bring forward Turkey's prospects of accession in accordance with the
same principles and criteria as are applied to the other candidate
countries". It was also mentioned that new decisions could be taken in
the Copenhagen European Council in December 2002 on the next stage of
Turkey's candidacy in the light of the developments in the situation
between Seville and Copenhagen European Councils, and on the basis of
the regular report to be submitted by the Commission in October 2002.
2002 Regular Report and the Strategy
Paper In 2002 the European Commission prepared
its fifth annual Progress Report for candidate countries. As all other
progress reports, the
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