28 Amendments of Marie-Christine VERGIAT related to 2018/2150(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1
Citation 1
— having regard to its previous resolutions on Turkey, in particular those of 24 November 2016 on EU-Turkey relations1 , of 27 October 2016 on the situation of journalists in Turkey2 , and of 8 February 2018 on the human rights situation in Turkey3 and to its previous resolution of 13 November 2014 on Turkish actions creating tensions in the exclusive economic zone of Cyprus, _________________ 1 Texts adopted, P8_TA(2016)0450. 2 Texts adopted, P8_TA(2016)0423. 3 Texts adopted, P8_TA(2018)0040.
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4
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,
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 a (new)
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,
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 9
Citation 9
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
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;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
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 arrestrests 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;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
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;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
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;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
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 2002stresses 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;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
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;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
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;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
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;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
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;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
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;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
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 graccoundst of alleged support for terrorist activitiesspeeches made and actions taken while carrying out their parliamentary work;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
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 casnotes 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;
Amendment 207 #
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 should be frozen for as long as serious violations of fundamental rights and the rule of law continue to be perpetrated in Turkey; 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 indicates its readiness forhas embarked on serious reforms;
Amendment 211 #
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 thec 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;
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
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;
Amendment 239 #
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; 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 mepoints out that visa liberalisation must not undermine the rights of Turkish nationals, especially those seeking asylum on European soil, nor should it be subject to tighter border control or the implementation of readmission agreements, but that it is in itself a goal serving to realise the universal right to freedom of movement;
Amendment 242 #
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; 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;
Amendment 245 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
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;
Amendment 248 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)
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;
Amendment 263 #
18. Recalls the important role played by Turkey in responding to the migration crisis resulting from the war in Syria; tTakes the view that Turkey’s population has shown great hospitality by offering shelter to more than 3 million Syrian refugees; calls on 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 Turkey;
Amendment 268 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18 a. Calls upon the Turkish government to halt its plans for the construction of the Akkuyuy nuclear power plant; points out that the envisaged site is located in a region prone to severe earthquakes, hence posing a major threat not only to Turkey but to the Mediterranean region as a whole; requests accordingly that the Turkish government join the Espoo Convention, which commits parties to notifying and consulting each other on major projects under consideration that are likely to have a significant adverse environmental impact across boundaries; asks the Turkish government to involve, or at least consult, the governments of its neighbouring countries, such as Greece and Cyprus, during any further developments in the Akkuyuy venture;
Amendment 270 #
18a. Maintains that it is essential to prevent deaths of migrants at sea by developing safe legal access routes for migrants and asylum seekers; condemns the EU-Turkey joint action plan on refugees and migration management, which takes no account of the reality of the situation for migrants and refugees in Turkey and is based on a purely repressive approach; maintains that cooperation on migration, instead of being used as a bargaining chip, should work in the interest of migrants and asylum seekers and their rights;
Amendment 291 #
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 upon agreement on terms of reference within the framework of the long agreed solution of bicommunal bizonal federation with political equality, as this is set out in relevant UN SC resolutions; recalls the Framework of the UN Secretary General and his appeal for resuming the negotiations from where things were left off at Crans Montana; supports a fair, comprehensive and viable settlement which must guarantee the single sovereignty, the single international legal personality and the single citizenship of the united federal Cyprus and be in line with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, international law and the EU acquis; reiterates its call on Turkey to commit and contribute to a comprehensive settlement, to begin withdrawing its troops from Cyprus, to transfer the sealed-off area of Famagusta to the UN, and to refrain from actions altering the demographic balance on the island; praises 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 dispuits lawful inhabitants in accordance with UNSC Resolution 550(1984) and to allow access to experts to explore and evaluate the situation of the city; it also urges Turkey to refrain from actions altering the demographic balance on the island contrary to the Geneva Convention and the principles of international law. It praises the important work of the Committee on Missing Persons and calls on Turkey to allow access to all relevant sites and military zones for exhumation and assist the CMP to the discovery of relocated and other remains by providing all relevant information from its military archives; recognises the right of the Republic of Cyprus to enter into bilateral agreements concerning its exclusive economic zone and condemns all the provoking actions of Turkey within the EEZ of the Republic of Cyprus which are a source of instability and calls on Turkey to terminate them; urges Turkey to respect the sovereign rights of all EU Member States, and to refrain from any threat or action which might have negative effects on good neighbourly relations while at the same time respecting the principle of peaceful settlement of disputes;
Amendment 307 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19 a. Calls on Turkey to sign and ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which has been signed and ratified by the EU, the 28 Member States and all other candidate countries and forms part of the acquis in line with December 2015 Council Conclusions and other relevant Council Conclusions;