Human rights key to Turkey EU membership

The European Union will not open membership talks with Turkey unless the country passes a human-rights reform package, EU enlargement commissioner Guenter Verheugen said today, his strongest remarks on the issue so far.

The Turkish parliament in Ankara adjourned yesterday without passing key reforms to its penal code – something the European Commission has said is necessary to the country’s bid to join the 25-nation trade bloc.

The commission is expected on October 6 to present its recommendation on whether to start entry talks with Turkey, and Verheugen said it would recommend against it unless the package is passed.

“The criminal reforms are an indispensable pre-requisite for the establishment of membership negotiations,” Verheugen told Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

“Only with these reforms can we certify that Turkey is a just state in which human rights are taken into account. The commission will make it clear that the membership negotiations cannot come so long as this central element is not fulfilled.”

The debate in Turkish parliament stalled as legislators disputed whether to include a provision criminalising adultery, something the EU also opposes.

If they do include the provision, Verheugen said it “would with certainty not survive the membership negotiations.”

“Now comes the moment of truth,” Verheugen said. “Turkey must find the strength to reconcile traditional Turkish values with European values. The European values are non-negotiable.”