37 Amendments of Sofia SAKORAFA related to 2018/2150(INI)

Takis HADJIGEORGIOU, Neoklis SYLIKIOTIS, Stelios KOULOGLOU, Marie-Christine VERGIAT, Sofia SAKORAFA

Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 a (new)

- having regard to its resolution of 15 April 2015 on the centenary of the Armenian Genocide,

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Citation 4

— having regard to the Negotiating Framework for Turkey of 3 October 2005 and to the fact that Turkey’s accession to the EU depends on full compliance with the Copenhagen criteria,

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Takis HADJIGEORGIOU, Neoklis SYLIKIOTIS, Marie-Christine VERGIAT, Sofia SAKORAFA, Stelios KOULOGLOU

Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 a (new)

- having regard to the mission report on the Fact-finding Visit to Famagusta, Cyprus adopted on 21/11/18 by the Committee of Petitions,

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Marie-Christine VERGIAT, Takis HADJIGEORGIOU, Sofia SAKORAFA

Motion for a resolution
Citation 9

— having regard to Article 46 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which states that the contracting parties undertake to abide by the final judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in any case to which they are parties,(Does not affect the English version.)

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Citation 20

— having regard to the fact that respect for the rule of law and fundamental rights, including the separation of powers, democracy, freedom of expression and media, human rights, the rights of minorities ~~and religious freedom, and freedom of association and the right to peaceful protest,~~, including the property rights of all non-Muslim religious minorities, good neighbourly relations, the rights of women and children, the fight against corruption and organised crime, religious freedom, and freedom of association and the right to peaceful protest, the fight against racism and discrimination against vulnerable groups such as the Roma, disabled persons, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons are at the core of the negotiation process,

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Citation 25 a (new)

- whereas Turkey has committed itself to the fulfilment of the Copenhagen criteria, adequate and effective reforms, good neighbourly relations and progressive alignment with the EU; whereas these efforts should have been viewed as an opportunity for Turkey to strengthen its institutions and continue its process of democratization and modernization; whereas there has been a stark regression in the areas of rule of law, human rights and good neighbourly relations during the last few years;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Takis HADJIGEORGIOU, Neoklis SYLIKIOTIS, Marie-Christine VERGIAT, Sofia SAKORAFA, Stelios KOULOGLOU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. EReiterates the importance of media freedom and independence as one of the core EU values and a cornerstone of any democracy; expresses serious concern about the disproportionate and arbitrary measures curtailing freedom of expression, media freedom and access to information; regrets in this context that in the last World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders the country has ranked 157th out of 180 countries, while according to Freedom House 2018 report on the country's Press Freedom, the country's status remains "Not Free"; condemns the closure of more than 160 media outlets and the ~~large~~high number of ~~arrests of~~ journalists arrested in the aftermath of the coup attempt; urges Turkey to guarantee media freedom as a matter of priority and to immediately release and acquit all unlawfully detained journalists; calls upon the Turkish authorities to demonstrate zero tolerance towards all incidents of physical and verbal abuse or threats against journalists;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. Expresses serious concern about the disproportionate and arbitrary measures curtailing freedom of expression, media freedom and access to information; condemns the closure of more than 160 media outlets and the large number of arrests of journalists in the aftermath of the coup attempt, where increasing restrictions were put in place on the rights of journalists and human rights defenders working on the Kurdish issue while other associations and Kurdish-language media outlets were closed; urges Turkey to guarantee media freedom as a matter of priority and to immediately release and acquit all unlawfully detained journalists;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Marie-Christine VERGIAT, Takis HADJIGEORGIOU, Sofia SAKORAFA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. Expresses serious concern about the disproportionate and arbitrary measures curtailing freedom of expression, media freedom and access to information; condemns the closure of more than 160 media outlets and the lar~~ge number of arrest~~rests of hundreds of journalists in the aftermath of the coup attempt and the regular sentencing of some of them; urges Turkey to guarantee media freedom as a matter of priority and to immediately release and acquit all unlawfully detained journalists;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Expresses serious concern at the blocking of access to social networks and the Internet, including the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, which has been occurring repeatedly since 29 April 2017;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Takis HADJIGEORGIOU, Neoklis SYLIKIOTIS, Marie-Christine VERGIAT, Sofia SAKORAFA, Stelios KOULOGLOU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Expresses concern at the shrinking space for civil society and the promotion of fundamental rights and freedoms; notes that a large number of activists, including human rights defenders, were arrested and demonstrations were recurrently banned during the state of emergency; calls on Turkey to protect the fundamental rights of minorities, such as LGBTI people; reminds that legislation on hate speech is not in line with European Court of Human Rights case-law;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7 a. Deplores the longstanding legal vacuum, which prevents the non-Muslim charitable foundations to elect their governing bodies; in this respect, calls on Turkish authorities to publish without delay the regulation permitting to the non-Muslim charitable foundations to elect their board members; calls on Turkey to take adequate measures to prevent and punish hate speech or crimes targeting minorities or people belonging in minorities; notes that further action is needed to address the problems faced by members of the Greek minority, in particular with regard to education and property rights; urges Turkish authorities to take measures in order to allow children who are not Turkish citizens and who attended minority schools as guest students to receive official graduation certificates;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)

7 b. Calls on Turkish authorities to promote positive and effective reforms in the area of freedom of thought, conscience and religion, by enabling religious communities to obtain legal personality, by eliminating all restrictions on the training, appointment and succession of clergy, by complying with the relevant judgements of the ECtHR and the recommendations of the Venice Commission and by eliminating all forms of discrimination or barriers based on religion; calls on Turkey to respect the distinct character and importance of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and to recognise its legal personality; deplores the fact that the Halki (Heybeliada)Greek Orthodox Seminary remains closed and calls on Turkish authorities to allow its swift reopening and guarantee its proper functioning;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 c (new)

7 c. Calls for the implementation of the Council of Europe Resolution 1625 (2008) and of the Venice Commission recommandations on the protection of property rights on Imvros and Tenedos; notes that further action is needed to address the problems faced by members of the Greek minority on these islands, in particular with regard to property rights; calls on Turkish authorities to encourage and assist expatriate minority families who wish to return to the island;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Takis HADJIGEORGIOU, Neoklis SYLIKIOTIS, Marie-Christine VERGIAT, Sofia SAKORAFA, Stelios KOULOGLOU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 d (new)

7 d. Calls on the Turkish authorities to fully respect the historical and cultural character of cultural and religious monuments and symbols, especially those that have been classified as UNESCO world heritage sites, and to refrain from any action aimed at altering their historical and religious nature; deplores the repeated, divisive and provocative practices aimed at altering the historical, cultural and religious character of the UNESCO heritage site of Hagia Sophia and to convert it into a mosque through readings of the Koran and the holding of prayers; calls on Turkey to respect the 1972 UNESCO Convention and to ratify the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Is deeply concerned at the situation in Turkey’s South-East and the serious allegations of human rights abuses, especially since the collapse of the Kurdish settlement process in 2015; ~~reiterates its firm condemnation of the return to violence by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been on the EU list of terrorist organisations since 2002~~stresses that the inclusion of PKK on the EU's list of terrorist organisations is standing in the way of the establishment of peace, dialogue and negotiations, at the same time that facilitates the infringement of human rights; calls therefore on the Council to revise the list and remove the PKK from the list of terrorist organisations; calls on the Turkish authorities to restart talks with PKK leaders for a peaceful solution for the Kurdish question; stresses the urgency of resuming a credible political process leading to a peaceful settlement of the Kurdish issue; calls on Turkey to promptly investigate serious allegations of human rights abuses and killings and to allow international observers to carry out an independent verification;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Is deeply concerned at the situation in Turkey’s South-East and the serious allegations of human rights abuses, especially since the collapse of the Kurdish settlement process in 2015; ~~reiterates its firm condemnation of the return to violence by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been on the EU list of terrorist organisations since 2002;~~ stresses the urgency of resuming a credible political process leading to a peaceful settlement of the Kurdish issue; calls on Turkey to promptly investigate serious allegations of human rights abuses and killings and to allow international observers to carry out an independent verification;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)

8 a. Calls on the Turkish government to immediately end the repeated violations of Greek airspace and territorial waters, as well as Turkish military aircraft flights over Greek islands, in accordance with the principle of good neighbourly relations which constitute a fundamental part of the Negotiating Framework and an essential element of the Enlargement Process; condemns in the strongest possible terms the fact that the casus belli threat declared by the Turkish Grand National Assembly against Greece in 1995, has not yet been withdrawn;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)

8a. Notes the judgment handed down on 15 November 2018 by the Court of Justice whereby the PKK’s name has been deleted from the Council list of terrorist organisations, and its listing annulled, for the period from 2014 to 2017, and calls on the Council to take that ruling into account when the list is next updated;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)

8 b. Expresses grave concern about tensions in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean which are not conducive to good neighbourly relations and undermine regional stability and security; deplores the escalation of threats and unilateral actions by Turkey against the Republic of Cyprus and Greece in relation to the EEZ; stresses that the Republic of Cyprus and Greece have the full and sovereign right to explore the natural resources within their EEZ, and that the Turkish maritime surveys must be seen as both illegal and provocative; stresses that Turkey needs to commit itself unequivocally to good neighbourly relations, international agreements, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which is part of the EU acquis, as well as to the peaceful settlement of disputes, in accordance with the United Nations Charter; expresses, in this context, serious concern and urges Turkey to avoid any kind of threat or action directed against a Member State, or source of friction or actions that damage good neighbourly relations and the peaceful settlement of disputes;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)

8b. Maintains that the delisting of the PKK from the Council terrorist list would be a strong signal for a resumption of negotiations between the Turkish authorities and the PKK and for a peaceful solution in Kurdistan;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 c (new)

8 c. Calls on Turkey to recognise the Armenian Genocide, as that would represent an important step to come to terms with its past and thus to pave the way for a genuine normalization of the relations between the Turkish and Armenian peoples; calls both sides to work on the normalisation of their relations by opening the borders;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Takis HADJIGEORGIOU, Neoklis SYLIKIOTIS, Marie-Christine VERGIAT, Stelios KOULOGLOU, Sofia SAKORAFA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Notes with concern that during the state of emergency a ~~very large number of mayors and co-~~ll mayors and co- mayors and a number of deputy mayors in the South-East were dismissed or arrested and that the Government appointed trustees to replace them; takes the view that the municipal elections in March 2019 must provide an important opportunity to fully reinstate the principle of direct democratic mandate;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Notes that the state of emergency further constrained the capacity of the Grand National Assembly to fulfil its fundamental role of democratic scrutiny and accountability; notes with great concern the arrest of two members of parliament from the Republican People’s Party (CHP), as well as the way the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) has been particularly marginalised, with many HDP lawmakers being arrested on the grounds of alleged support for terrorist activities; calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners held without proof of individual involvement in committing crime or without any charges presented against them;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Marie-Christine VERGIAT, Takis HADJIGEORGIOU, Sofia SAKORAFA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Notes that the state of emergency further constrained the capacity of the Grand National Assembly to fulfil its fundamental role of democratic scrutiny and accountability; notes with great concern the arrest of two members of parliament from the Republican People’s Party (CHP), as well as the way the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) has been particularly marginalised~~, with many HDP lawmakers being~~ and the fact that 11 HDP members of parliament have been arrested on ~~the gr~~accoundst of ~~alleged support for terrorist activities~~speeches made and actions taken while carrying out their parliamentary work;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Condemns the continued arrest of Selahattin Demirtas, opposition leader and presidential candidate; pledges to continue to follow his case very closely and calls for his immediate and unconditional release; ~~expects the European Court of Human Rights to deliver without delay its final judgement in the cas~~notes the judgment handed down on 20 November 2018 in which the European Court of Human Rights ordered the immediate release of Selahattin Demirtas and found that the right to free elections (ECHR, Protocol No 1, Article 3), the right to be brought promptly before a judge (Article 5(3) ECHR), and the limitation on use of restrictions on rights (Article 18 ECHR) had not been observed and that his pre-trial detention had stifled pluralism and freedom of political debate;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Takis HADJIGEORGIOU, Neoklis SYLIKIOTIS, Sofia SAKORAFA, Stelios KOULOGLOU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Notes that while the EU accession process was at its start a strong motivation for reforms in Turkey, there has been a stark regression in the areas of the rule of law and human rights during the last few years; recalls that Parliament repeatedly called for the opening of Chapter 23 on Judiciary and Fundamental Rights and Chapter 24 on Justice, Freedom and Security at a time when the Turkish government had pledged to conduct serious reforms; regrets deeply that the accession instruments could not be used to the fullest extent owing to a continued blockage by the Council;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Takis HADJIGEORGIOU, Neoklis SYLIKIOTIS, Stelios KOULOGLOU, Marie-Christine VERGIAT, Sofia SAKORAFA

Motion for a resolution
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~~c believes that the upgrade can be contemplated provided that Turkey proceeds first to the full and indiscriminate implementation of its obligations deriving from the current Customs Union Agreement between EU- Turkey. Following this, its upgrade wcould provide a valuable opportunity for democratic conditionality, positive leverage and the possibility of a roadmap where upgrading the Ccustoms Uunion would go hand in hand with concrete commitments by Turkey on democratic reforms reinforcing the full compliance of the Copenhagen criteria; believes further that the upgrading of the Ccustoms Uunion 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 indicates its readiness for serious reforms;~~

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Takis HADJIGEORGIOU, Neoklis SYLIKIOTIS, Stelios KOULOGLOU, Marie-Christine VERGIAT, Sofia SAKORAFA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15 a. Deplores Turkey´s refusal to fulfil its obligation of full, non-discriminatory implementation of the Additional Protocol to the EC-Turkey Association Agreement vis-à-vis all member states, the Republic of Cyprus in particular; reiterates that Turkey's refusal to normalize its relations with all EU Member States has started having a negative impact on its relations with the EU, including its accession process;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Takis HADJIGEORGIOU, Neoklis SYLIKIOTIS, Marie-Christine VERGIAT, Sofia SAKORAFA, Stelios KOULOGLOU

Motion for a resolution
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; encourages 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 fully and in a non-discriminatory manner towards all EU Member States;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)

17a. Stresses that the revision of Turkey’s anti-terrorism legislation is a key condition for ensuring fundamental rights and freedoms and expresses disquiet at the fact that measures in force during the state of emergency have been incorporated into ordinary law and used against political opponents;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)

17b. Expresses serious disquiet at the meddling by Turkish intelligence services in Europe, aimed at the diaspora in particular, and at the strong suspicions that Turkish agencies have been involved in the abduction or attempted abduction of Turkish nationals and were implicated in the murders of Fidan Doğan, Sakine Cansiz, and Leyla Söylemez on the night of 9 to 10 January 2013 in Paris;

2018/12/17
Committee: AFET