Activities of Bas BELDER related to 2016/2308(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
2016 Report on Turkey (debate) NL
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the 2016 Commission Report on Turkey PDF (313 KB) DOC (69 KB)
Amendments (17)
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16
Citation 16
— having regard to the fact that respect for the rule of law, including, in particular, the separation of powers, democracy, freedom of expression, human rights, the rights of minorities and religious freedom, freedom of association and peaceful protest, are at the core of the negotiation process, according to the Copenhagen Criteria for membership of the European Union of 1993,
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Underlines that 2016 was a difficult year for Turkey’'s population as a result of the direct military involvement of its country in the continuing war in Syria, the high numbers of refugees, a string of heinous terror attacks, and a violent coup attempt in which 248 people were killed; reiterates its strong condemnation of the coup attempt of 15 July and was dubbed "a gift of Allah" by president Erdogand, expresses its solidarity with the people of Turkey; recognises the right and the responsibility of the Turkish government to take action in bringing the perpetrators to justice, points, nevertheless, to the public statements of leading politicians of the government party AKP that long before the coup of 15 July lists were drawn up with the names of 2.700 judges and public prosecutors, who should be suspended;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Notes that under the ongoing state of emergency in Turkey arrested citizens have no right to legal aid during the first five days of their detention and when they at last can speak with a lawyer these consultations are bugged or sometimes even filmed;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Notes that due to a presidential decree of 1 Sepember 2016 more than 800 Turkish companies were confiscated by the state authorities, at the value of 10 billions euros according the calculation of Vice-Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli in January 2017, and this process of confiscation is going on; notes also that in December 2016 the property of 54 arrested "Gülenist" journalists was seized, but underlines that the present confiscation gulf also hits other independent forces in Turkish society as "Radyo Özgur";
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses the strategic importance of good EU-Turkey relations for both sides; recognises that boRecommends that the Council urgently invite the Turkey and the EU have gone through their own internal transformation processes since the accession negotiations were opened in 2004; regrets that the accession instruments have not been used to the fullest extent and that, over the years, Turkey’s full integration into the EU has lost public support on both sides; remains committed to cooperating and maintaining an open dialogue with the Turkish Government, in order to address common challenges; recommends that the Council urgently invite the Turkish Government to a summit to discuss the obvious crisis in EU-Turkey relations that we are faced withish Government to a summit to discuss in an honest and open way realistic political alternatives to the disenchanting and even more improbable negotiation process on Turkey's accession to the EU;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Takes note of the outcome of the referendum that took place onStresses that since August 28, 2014, the day Recep Tayyip Erdogan took the oath of office and became the 12th President of the Republic of Turkey, Erdogan has been ruling de facto as the executive President, acting with complete impunity upon the capacities the referendum of 16 Aapril 2017 granted the Turkish President; takes note of the outcome of the referendum, held under the state of emergency and in circumstances that prevented a fair campaign; supports an independent evaluation of all claims regarding irregularities; notes the remarks of the Venice Commission on the constitutional reform,; and underlines that the proposed constitutional amendments do not respect the fundamental principles of the separation of powers and sufficient checks and balances, and are not in line with the Copenhagen criteria; underlines that the Turkish regime needed the referendum as a seal of democratic legitimacy; deplores that the referendum also served to further polarize and consolidate the bipolar hegemony in Turkish politics around the figure of President Erdogan;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Deplores the agressive islamist rethoric during the referendum campaign in Turkey, illustrated by posters on social media which posed the islamic crescent as "yes" against the christian cross as "no"; condemns strongly the description of the leaders of the European Union by President Erdogan during a meeting at 2 April in Ankara as "an alliance of crusaders"; condemns also strongly the referendum-call of President Erdogan that "the war between the cross and the crescent has begun"; recommends all European Institutions to clearly distance themselves from the islamist-nationalist mindset of the AKP-regime in Turkey and to compare this prevailing Turkish state- ideology with the basic political principles of the European Union to revise drastically its relations with the Turkey of President Erdogan;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on Turkey to protect the rights of the most vulnerable groups and of persons belonging to minoritiesarable groups and of persons belonging to ethnic and religious minorities; deplores that all proposals resulting from the "report of the working party on minority and cultural rights", commissioned by the "prime ministries advisory council on human rights" and presented to his body on 22 October 2004, have since been abandoned; deplores that Christian minority groups obviously come under pressure as they have been engaged in interreligious-dialogue activities with the Gülen movement, which for quite some time has de facto been commissioned by state authorities of the Republic of Turkey like the presidency for religious affairs (Diyanet) with activities in the field of interreligious dialogue, given so, state authorities have no reason to blame Christian minority groups for having been active in the field of interreligious dialogue with the Gülen movement representing at that stage the Republic of Turkey in the field of such activities; deplores that in the aftermath of July 15th all activities of state authorities of the Republic of Turkey like the presidency for religious affairs (Diyanet) in the field of interreligious dialogue have been abandoned obviously as a result of the actual policies of the Government of Turkey in respect of the Gülen movement now denounced as Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ); regrets that the LGBTI marches in Ankara and Istanbul were banned for the second consecutive year; is seriously concerned about gender-based violence, discrimination, hate speech against minorities, hate crime and violations of the human rights of LGBTI persons; calls on Turkey to harmonise its domestic legislation with the Council of Europe’'s Istanbul Convention, which it ratified in 2014; welcomes the government’'s national strategy and action plan for Roma and encourages the authorities to address key obstacles to the social inclusion of Roma;
Amendment 204 #
11 a. Is concerned that the Christian minority still faces hate crimes and verbal and physical attacks, stigmatization and social pressure at schools, discrimination due to the use of the religion section on identity cards and problems regarding the ability to legally establish a place of worship; calls on the Turkish government to enter into a dialogue with the Christian churches to overcome prejudice and to solve problems in line with international rights obligations; stresses the need to actively place on the agenda and encourage the idea of a culture where understanding is shown to people of other religions and recognition that these people are citizens of the Republic of Turkey who possess the same rights;
Amendment 210 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Paragraph 11 b (new)
11 b. Condemns strongly the obvious anti-Semitic message in the new television series "Payitaht – Abdülhamid" (Capital – Abdülhamid) on Turkey's state run TRT-1 which fuels anti-Semitic comments; urges therefore the Turkish authorities to combat seriously all manifestations of anti-Semitism in society by giving a good example itself;
Amendment 212 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 c (new)
Paragraph 11 c (new)
11 c. Notes that on March 29, 2017, President Erdogan gathered beauticians at his 1.100-room palace as he signed into law an unprecedented emergency decree on hair removal; notes that this rally "For a beautiful Turkey, of course, yes", was aired live on television; remarks that who will not enjoy the graciously by emergency decreeted beauty session are the thousands of Turkish women, many with small children, who languish in Turkish prisons and jails; urges the European Institutions to take seriously notice of the recent report (April 2017) of the "Stockholm Center for Freedom" on "Jailing Women In Turkey: Systematic Campaign Of Persecution And Fear" as part of the government´s systematic campaign of intimidation and persecution of critics and opponents and strongly condemn the Turkish authorities for this intolerable and unacceptable suffering of thousands of women in Turkish prisons and jails;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. WelcomUrges the deepening of EU- Turkey relations in key areas of joint interest, such as counter-terrorism, migration, energy, the economy and trade; believes EU-TurkeyCouncil and the Commission to use the economic leverage on Turkey for setting clear political conditions to Ankara for the cooperation in thesand future areas to be an investment in the stability and prosperity of both Turkey and the EUlationship between the EU and the Republic of Turkey;
Amendment 231 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Believes that strengthening trade relations could bring concrete benefits to citizens in Turkey and the EU, and therefore supportsakes note of the Commission’'s proposal to start negotiations on the upgrading of the Customs Union; reiterates that the EU is Turkey’'s main trading partner and that two thirds of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Turkey comes from EU Member States; considers the involvement of social partners in negotiations as crucial; calls on the Commission to include political benchmuncil and the Commission not to start the negotiations on the upgraded Customs Union between Turkey and the EU until Turkey has met the EU standarkds on human rights and fundamental freedoms in the upgraded Customs Union;
Amendment 255 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
Amendment 309 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Commends the engagement by the Turkish Ggovernment and the hospitality shown by the population in hosting around 3 million refugees, but is highly concerned about the continuing difficult situation of these refugees due to problematic housing, feeding, education (more than 400.000 Syrian children do not attend schools) and medical care, moreover very few refugees find jobs at the Turkish labour market, resulting in child labour, sexual exploitation of women and even the selling of precious human organs by desperate refugees; notes the EU-Turkey statement on migration, and urges the Member States to initiate the voluntary resettlement scheme for the most vulnerable refugees in Turkey; calls on the Commission to ensure long-term investment in both refugees and their host communities in Turkey; encourages the Turkish Ggovernment to grant work permits to all Syrian refugees; calls on Ankara to keep up its patrolling efforts in the Aegean and to implement fully the bilateral readmission agreements signed with Bulgaria and Greece;
Amendment 321 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Condemns strongly the recent statements by President Erdogan accusing some EU leaders of ‘Nazi practices’ and warns that the continuation of such unwarranted statements undermines Turkey’s credibility as a political partner; notes with concern the reports of alleged pressure on members of the Turkish diaspora living in the Member StatExpresses its great concern about the issue that in the past several years the Turkish government has engaged in a systematic effort to mobilize the Turkish diaspora in Member States of the European Union for the purposes of Erdogan's regime – as voters in Turkish elections, as a pressure group in the politics of their countries of residence, and as informants and bullies against Erdogan's opponents; condemns also strongly the recent statements by President Erdogan accusing some EU leaders of ‘Nazi practices,’ and condemns the Turkish authorities’ surveillance of citiztakes the opinion that such unwarranted statements with dual nationtotally disqualitfy living abroadTurkey as a political partner; is concerned at the revocation of a large number of passports, leaving people stateless; points at the revealing figures of requests of asylum by Turkish officials in especially Germany (more than 7.700);