14 April 2016•Update: 21 April 2016
PARIS, VIENNA
The European Parliament has adopted its Turkey 2015 progress report amid criticism of security and press freedom in the country but praise for its sheltering of the largest refugee population in the world.
The resolution, passed by 375 votes to 133 on Thursday, with 87 abstentions, was critical of some aspects of reforms in Turkey. However, MEPs called for a strengthening of cooperation between Turkey and the EU, especially in exchanging information on foreign policy.
The report recommended inviting the Turkish foreign minister to the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council, stressed that Turkey is "a key strategic partner" and that "active and credible negotiations would constitute an appropriate framework to exploit the full potential of the relationship between the two parties”.
It called for "structured, more frequent and more open" high-level political dialogue on topics of common interest, including migration, the fight against terrorism plus trade.
MEPs also highlighted that EU-Turkey cooperation on migration should be uncoupled from the EU accession negotiating process.
"EU-Turkey cooperation on migration should not be linked to the calendar, content and conditionality of the negotiation process,” reads the text of the resolution.
The report also welcomed the "significant humanitarian contribution" of Turkey in hosting refugees. EU Turkey Rapporteur Kati Piri said the report "condemns and does not justify PKK’s renewed violence", saying the group is on the EU’s list of terrorist organizations.
In this report "we also express our concern about the escalation of violence in the southeast of Turkey, which caused almost 400,000 people to leave their houses", she added.
Piri said there has been “a regression … in some key areas such as freedom of expression and the independence of the judiciary”.
-Armenian dispute-
However, Turkey's EU minister, Volkan Bozkir, said Ankara would declare the EU progress report null and void over its description of the 1915 events as "genocide".
Speaking at a Vienna news conference with Austria's foreign minister, Sebastian Kurz, Bozkir said the document approved on Thursday would be returned by Turkey's permanent representative to the European Parliament.
"There is no moment for which we feel shame as Turkey. Our all archives are open and we think it is an issue on which historians should give a decision," Bozkir said.
"Unfortunately, last year we declared the report null and void, returned. This year again, the same [Armenian] reference is included... Despite our all efforts and warnings, this reference was not removed. Therefore, we will declare this report null and void," he added.
The 1915 events occurred during World War I when a part of the Armenian population living in the Ottoman Empire sided with the invading Russians and revolted.
The relocation of Armenians by the Ottomans in eastern Anatolia following the revolts resulted in numerous casualties.
Turkey does not dispute that there were casualties on both sides, but rejects calling the events “genocide.” Instead, it calls for a joint commission of historians to be established and archives to be opened in order to study and uncover what happened between the Ottoman Empire and its Armenian citizens.
