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ardize the accession negotiation process. The EU should continue its discussion with Turkey on the definition of minorities (which Turkey bases on the Treaty of Lausanne), with a view to the difficulties it raises for Turkey to ratify without reservations, as well as to implement in practice, relevant international instruments. In this discussion, the EU should pay full attention to the fact that some of its twenty five Member States also subscribe to a narrow definition of minorities which causes the same problem… The EESC notes with interest initiatives of the Turkish Government like the Bill of 2000 on compensation for harm caused by the security forces during anti-terrorist activities and the Internally Displaced Persons and "Back to Village and Rehabilitation" Project. The EESC considers it of great importance for the credibility of reforms as regards the rights of the population of the South Eastern provinces that before December 2004 these initiatives will have started to benefit the victims concretely.
Turkey should be able to show strong progress and meet the requirements it has known for a very long time now by the end of 2004... The reform process Turkey is going through presently gives rise to positive expectations. However, in this area concrete and full results must be shown by the deadline mentioned. The Turkish Economic and Social Council should, already in the course of this year, be much more seriously involved in the preparation of economic and social policy. The Government must consult it on key issues in these areas and must show that it takes its opinions and advice seriously…
It is the view of the EESC that a positive decision on the opening of negotiations with Turkey on accession to the EU must be taken if the Government of Turkey by December next, will have taken measures to satisfy the demands with respect to the role of the army in Turkish society; shown, in concrete measures, determination to fully implement in practice the legal reforms concerning the cultural rights of the Kurds in the South-Eastern provinces of the country; started to implement in practice the intentions expressed and commitments made with regard to voluntary return, rehabilitation and compensation of displaced victims of the violence in the South East in the 1980s and 1990s; brought its legislation and practice with regard to basic trade union rights and freedoms fully in line with ILO Conventions 87 and 98; cleaned the Associations Law from all anti-democratic stains and refrained in practice from restrictions on the free functioning of genuine civil society organisations including religious foundations; and created conditions for the free and independent functioning of the Economic and Social Council of Turkey, as well as basis for meaningful and constructive cooperation with this Council.
The EESC thinks that the reforms made so far by the Government of Turkey … represent a credible progress. The EESC believes that a reliable basis has been created for the opening of the negotiations which, in due time, will lead to mutually beneficial results. In this event, the EESC is of the view that each of the European institutions, including the EESC itself, should begin preparing for the effects of Turkish accession on the workings and the concept of the European Union itself. As a result of such accession the European Union would be considerably enlarged and altered, which would require widespread support from European public opinion. Irrespective of the decision of the December Council, the EESC will continue its fruitful cooperation with Turkey's organised civil society
EU Membership: A Challenge to Turkey and to Europe By Amanda Akçakoca, Policy Analyst, European Policy Centre
When EU leaders meet in December 2004 to decide on whether or not to open accession talks with Turkey, they will be asking themselves two simple questions: First, has Turkey made sufficient progress in meeting the Copenhagen Criteria and second what will be the impact of Turkish membership on the EU? When Turkey was first made a candidate country at the Helsinki European Council in December 1999, it was made clear that in order for Ankara to begin accession talks, a serious programme of reforms would have to be undertaken. It took Turkey almost two years to really get this process off the ground and to realize fully what this meant - that they could no longer get away with reforms that were merely "window dressing". Moreover, during these wilderness years Turkey passed through some very difficult days which brought its EU aspirations into question again and again - two devastating earthquakes, an economy on the brink of collapse with interest rates soaring, human rights abuses rising, political parties being banned because they were deemed to be too islamist, relations with the EU in a deadlock over the European Security and Defence Policy and last but not least, a continuation of the unstable and corrupt governments which had plagued Turkey through the 1990's. In short, things did not look too bright. Although, during the course of 2001, some reforms were carried out, the real change came in the summer of 2002, when, with his coalition government on the verge of collapse and the public calling for new elections, the then Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit managed to turn the tide and push the first major reform package through. This package, among other things, brought about the abolition of the death penalty: something that had been widely debated and argued over in Turkey for months. Four months later, Ecevit and his coalition partners were expelled from government in an election which resulted in an unprecedented landslide victory for the current Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Justice and Development party. Since election, Erdoğan's popularity has grown steadily and today it would be fair to say that he almost completely dominates Turkish politics. Since becoming Prime Minister he has proved himself to be more committed to democracy than any of his predecessors who misruled Turkey throughout the 1990's. In order to convince Europeans that Turkey was changing irreversibly, he set out to address their key concerns and has spent almost two years securing the passage of laws and constitutional amendments in order to bring Turkey into line with EU standards. Making those changes has not been easy. In a very short period of time the government has harmonised Turkish legislation with that of the EU acquis in a broad range of areas from fundamental rights and freedoms to civilian-military relations. Civil society and parliamentary roles have been strengthened, the role of the National Security Council has been totally transformed, State Security Courts have been abolished, new legislation has been introduced to improve human rights and strengthen the safeguards against torture and ill treatment in addition to a law increasing minority and cultural rights such as broadcasting in Kurdish and minority languages. One of the EU's key concerns has always been the human rights situation in Turkey. Erdoğan has given this issue top priority and has proclaimed his "zero tolerance" approach to this at every opportunity. Ankara has made tremendous progress in this area and all relevant human rights organizations, whether from the EU or Turkey recognize this improvement. This is clearly reflected in the statistics gathered by Human Rights Watch for the number of deaths in custody. In 1994 there were 45 deaths in custody whereas in 2004 there have been none to date. Turkey has received criticism over the length of time it is taking to have the reforms implemented across the board. However, given the size and diversity of the country it could never have been expected that implementation would happen overnight or that Turkey would turn into a human rights paradise. After all it has taken Europeans decades to attain today's standards. It will take some time before the reforms are fully reflected in the attitudes of executive and judicial bodies at all levels throughout Turkey and will require a great deal of determination from the government. It is very important, therefore, that Turkey sustains the momentum of reform and makes the most of every minute until the December European Council. The entry of a large country like Turkey into the EU will, of course, have a strong impact on the shaping of the EU institutions and policies. This is why the European Council invited the European Commission to undertake a preliminary assessment of the impact Turkish membership is likely to have on the EU. It is fair to say that there are widespread concerns in Europe about Turkey's membership. However, Turkish membership is not just around the corner. It is highly unlikely that membership would be feasible before 2014, when a new set of financial perspectives for the EU will start to operate. Moreover, one also has to anticipate what the EU might look like ten years from now: the constitution should be in place, the internal market will be completed, the transitional periods for the ten member states that joined on 1 May 2004 will have come to an end, but not so for the three member states (Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia) who are all expected to join before 2010, the EU will have made a lot of progress towards a common foreign and security policy, the reform of the CAP should essentially have been completed, expenditures being focused on direct payments to farmers and no longer on market support and expenditures for cohesion/regional policy for the richest member countries will have been phased out. All in all the EU of tomorrow will be a lot different from today. Turkey will almost certainly continue to be the EU's poorest country, with a still growing population for many years to come and it would therefore be normal for Turks to emigrate in order to seek employment, as it has been for the Poles and others in the past few years. But by 2015, this perspective should be much less threatening than it is today. First the EU will negotiate a transitional period as it has done for the last enlargement. It is likely to be at least seven years and therefore significant migration will not be possible until 2022 or beyond. By this time the demographic situation in many of the present member countries could have deteriorated to such a point that an infusion of fresh blood from Turkey - rather than from Asia or North Africa - would be blessing. Turning to the question of religion, Turkey's 70 million citizens are almost entirely Muslims and thus members of a different religious community than the largely Christian Europe. However, it will be this difference in religion that gives Europe the opportunity to demonstrate that it's capable and prepared for dialogue with other cultures and faiths. Those who want a stable peace in Europe need Turkey as a bridge of trust between the Orient and the Occident, between East and West. Overall, the impact of Turkish membership on the EU will not endanger the normal functioning and evolution of the Union. Turkey will be one member country among perhaps 35 others and its share of the total population will never exceed 20%.