Activities of Georgios EPITIDEIOS related to 2018/2150(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
2018 Report on Turkey (debate) EL
Amendments (7)
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 10
Citation 10
— having regard to the opinions of the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, in particular those of 10-11 March 2017 on the amendments to the Constitution to be submitted to a national referendum, on the measures provided for in the recent Emergency Decree-Laws with respect to freedom of the media and on the duties, competences and functioning of the criminal peace judgeships, those of 6-7 October 2017 on the provisions of Decree- Law No 674 concerning the exercise of local democracy, those of 9-10 December 2016 on Emergency Decree-Laws Nos 667-676 adopted following the failed coup of 15 July 2016, and those of 14-15 October 2016 on the suspension of the second paragraph of Article 83 of the Constitution, focusing on parliamentary inviolability,
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. WelcomesExpresses its satisfaction at the decision of 19 July 2018 to lift the state of emergency, which was introduced after the 2016 coup attempt and extended 7 times; notes that the prolonged state of emergency has led to an erosion of the rule of law and deterioration of human rights in Turkey; regrets that the adoption of new legislative proposals preserves many of the abusive powers granted to the President and the executive under the state of emergency and thereby dampens any positive effect of its termination;
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls on the Commission and the Member States, taking all of the above into account and in accordance with the Negotiating Framework, to formally suspend the accession negotiations with Turkey; remains, however, committed to democratic dialogue with Turkey; asks the Commission to use, during the formal suspension of negotiations, all funds available under IPA II and the future IPA III to support, through a dedicated envelope directly managed by the EU, Turkey’s civil society, and to increase opportunities for people-to-people contacts, academic dialogue, access for Turkish students to European universities and media platforms for journalists;
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Believes that a door should be left open for the modernisation and upgrading of the 1995 Customs Union between the EU and Turkey, to include relevant areas such as agriculture, services and public procurement, which currently are not covered; recalls that two thirds of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Turkey comes from EU Member States and that Turkey is an important growth market for the EU; believes that the upgrade would provide a valuable opportunity for democratic conditionality, positive leverage and the possibility of a roadmap where upgrading the Customs Union would go hand in hand with concrete commitments by Turkey on democratic reforms; believes further that the upgrading of the Customs Union would provide an important opportunity for policy dialogue on climate change as well as on labour rights in Turkey; calls on the Commission to start preparatory work for the upgrading of the Customs Union as soon as the Turkish Government indicatproves its readiness for serious reforms;
Amendment 236 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Notes that visa liberalisation is of great importance for Turkish citizens, particularly for students, academics, business representatives and people with family ties in EU Member States; eEncourages the Turkish Government to fully comply with the 72 criteria identified in the visa liberalisation roadmap; stresses that the revision of Turkey’s anti-terrorism legislation is a key condition for ensuring fundamental rights and freedoms, and that visa liberalisation will be possible once all the criteria have been met;
Amendment 255 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Recalls the importantnegative role played by Turkey in crespondating to the migration crisis resulting from the war in Syria; takes the view that Turkey’s population has shown great hospitality by offering shelter to more than 3 million Syrian refugees; callby channelling illegal migrants to EU countries with the settlement of Muslims oin the EU and its Member States to keep their promise regarding a large-scale resettlement, and to ensure adequate financial resources for the long- term support of Syrian refugees in Turkeyas an indirect objective;
Amendment 303 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Welcomes the efforts by the UN to resume negotiations on the reunification of Cyprus; supports a fair, comprehensive and viable settlement in line with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the EU acquis; reiterates its call on Turkey to commit and contribute to a comprehensive settlement, to beginto withdrawing its troops from Cyprus, to transfer the sealed-off area of Famagusta to the UN,which it has illegally partitioned since 1974, to transfer all the occupied territories to the Republic of Cyprus and to refrain from actions altering the demographic balance on the island; praise, which also constitute a war crime; applauds the important work of the Committee on Missing Persons; recognises the right of the Republic of Cyprus to enter into bilateral agreements concerning its exclusive economic zone; urges Turkey to engage in the peaceful settlement of disputes, and to refrain from any threat or action which might have negative effects on good neighbourly relations;