Category: Sweden

Turkey’s EU membership is not a ‘given’: Swedish FM

IZMIR, Turkey: Turkey’s prospect of joining the European Union at the end of a lengthy process is not a certainty, Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt told AFP Sunday, saying efforts would have to be made by both Ankara and Brussels.

“Nothing is given in the world. Nothing is given in life,” Bildt, a strong advocate of Turkey’s EU bid, said in the western city of Izmir, a day after addressing Turkish ambassadors from around the world during an annual gathering.

“It requires efforts by both sides. It requires a continued reform process in Turkey, and it requires a continued open attitude by the European Union.”

Turkey launched formal accession talks with the European bloc in 2005 but they have made little progress because of the quarrel with Cyprus as well as stiff opposition from some EU member states.

Brussels has opened only 13 of the 35 policy chapters that every state must negotiate in order to join the bloc. Just one chapter has been successfully closed.

The talks have stalled over problems relating to the ethnic Greek government of EU member Cyprus, a Mediterranean island divided between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, as well as stiff opposition from certain countries including France.

Bildt hoped that Turkish-EU talks would gain a new momentum in the coming year.

“I do think that there are positive signs, so we will work on that,” he said.

As a staunch opponent of Turkey’s EU membership bid, France has blocked five chapters on the grounds that opening them would lead to full membership.

But the French objections came from former president Nicolas Sarkozy who argued that Turkey was not part of Europe.

Ankara now expects Paris to lift its veto on the five chapters under Socialist President Francois Hollande, elected in May, who has shown himself to be more open to Turkey’s EU ambitions.

Turkey’s EU Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis has spoken of mending fences with Paris in a friendly spirit of finding solutions.

“We are hoping that he (Hollande) would open a new page in the very deep and fruitful historical relations between Turkey and France,” Bagis told AFP back in May.

For his part Hollande has noted that Turkey would not become an EU member during his five-year term — the road to EU accession is a long one.

“I think it is too early to tell,” Bildt said when asked if there were signals from France over a policy change.

“And you will have to wait for the French to state their own position. There are countries where there is opposition but all of the countries are united with the slight exceptions … that we should conclude the negotiations,” he added.

“And then it will a matter for the final judgement by Turkey and by the European Union at that particular time. But I think concluding the accession negotiations is clearly an interest of both the European Union and Turkey.”

Turkey is under fire from Brussels for stalling democratic reforms and a lack of sufficient progress in improving its human rights record.

Ankara however rejects those accusations, and says the EU focuses on shortcomings in the Turkish bid rather than on the reform effort itself.

Bildt said most of the problems stemmed from Turkey’s “fairly old constitution” made by the junta after the 1980 military takeover.

He hoped that progress would be made towards the new constitution and the judicial reforms which would address problems.

Bildt also said he did believe Turkey would join the EU.

“Yes, I do believe. Don’t ask me when but I do believe it.”

via Turkey’s EU membership is not a ‘given’: Swedish FM | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR.

January 7, 2013
APA – Turkey withdraws from Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Sweden

Baku. Ulker Rashidgizi-APA. Turkey will not be represented at the «Eurovision song contest 2013″ to be held next year in Sweden.

Eurovision fans were confused after TRT had stated that they may consider withdrawal in 2013. Then, everyone calmed down when TRT started to put lots of effort trying to decide which artist should represent Turkey in Malmö. However, today it’s been officially announced that, Turkey will not take part in the 2013 edition of Eurovision Song Contest.

After Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Bosnia & Herzegovina withdrew (and Cyprus first announced to do so, but later changed its mind), TRT also announced that Turkey will not participate in next year’s contest.

In August 2012, Director General at TRT said that Turkey was considering withdrawal in 2013. However, this was not taken much seriously among the public, as TRT started to organize meetings with an “Advisory Board” which gathered music proffessionals in order to discuss, who would be the right participant for Turkey. Last week, some rumours spred out that the meetings with the 2013 representative were close to an end, and the name would be announced very soon. Today, both the media and the fans were shocked by the withdrawal of Turkey.

Unlike the other withdrawn countries, Turkey’s reason is not financial. TRT stated that, this is a reaction to the injustice of the competition, like a “boycott”. In the explanation they made, TRT claimed that the contest was unfair due to the latest rule in the voting system; the 50-50 combination of jury voting and televoting. It is thought that the involvement of jury had a downstream effect on Turkey’s points. The broadcaster also finds the “big 5 direct qualifiers” unfair.

Turkey will most likely participate in the 2014 contest, as TRT told that they’ll take the opinions of Advisory Board into consideration to develop a strategy for the next years, and hopefully end up with better and more effective conclusions.

Many Turkish Eurovision fans are however thinking the withdrawel has mostly to do with the latest rule change making the producer decide the running order of the participating songs. Something that can have a big influence on the winner.

Turkey has been in the contest since 1975, and they were active except for the years 1976, 1977,1979, and 1994. They won for the first time in 2003, with the song Everyway That I Can by Sertab Erener, their only victory until now.

In 2012, Turkey was represented with the song Love Me Back by Can Bonomo, which finished the contest at a respectable 7th place.

via APA – Turkey withdraws from Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Sweden.

December 16, 2012
Swedish diplomat faces charges in Turkey

ISTANBUL, Turkey, May 13 (UPI) — A Swedish diplomat caught with a small piece of marble in his suitcase as he prepared to fly home after a vacation could be imprisoned in Turkey.

Turkish authorities say the marble dates from ancient times, making it a historical artifact, The Local reported. It was about 10 centimeters or less than 4 inches in length.

The man’s wife told Expressen, a Swedish national newspaper, she and her husband were never told that pieces of stone were relics.

“This is ludicrous. We had no idea that you couldn’t take stones home as souvenirs,” she said. “We don’t know now what will happen, or how long we’ll have to wait for a decision, but this is a mistake.”

The man, who currently is based at the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm, has not yet been formally charged. He remains in custody in Turkey.

via Swedish diplomat faces charges in Turkey – UPI.com.

May 16, 2012
Cyprus – a litmus test for Turkey

Famagusta Gazette 9 April 2012

By Robert Ellis

Sweden’s Minister for International Cooperation Development, Gunilla Carlsson, has confirmed in a joint article together with Turkey’s Minister for EU Affairs, Egemen Bagis, Sweden’s full support for Turkey’s bid for EU membership.

This comes as no surprise, as four years ago Sweden’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Bildt, declared that “the AKP government is made up of profound European reformers”.

What was also predictable was Ms. Carlsson’s statement at the round table meeting with Mr. Bagis that it was unacceptable to stall Turkey’s accession negotiations because of bilateral issues that had nothing to do with the EU itself. This was evidently a reference to the unresolved Cyprus dispute.

When Sweden was term president of the EU in the second half of 2009, the draft of the General Affairs Council conclusions in November noted that “bilateral issues” should not hold up the accession process but needed to be resolved by the parties concerned “bearing in mind the overall EU interests”.

In effect, this relegated the Cyprus issue to the level of the border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia, but because of opposition from other EU member states the paragraph was dropped from the Council’s conclusions.

This attempt to sweep the issue under the carpet is reminiscent of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s reference to the Sudetenland conflict in 1938 as “a quarrel in a faraway country between people of whom we know nothing”.

What is notable is that Ms. Carlsson spoke of a struggle to embrace deeply owned common values, as this is precisely the issue that is at stake in Cyprus. In effect, Cyprus can be considered a litmus test as to whether it is possible for two ethnic communities to coexist inside the same national framework, and, on a larger scale, whether Turkey can fit into the European Union.

Prime Minister Erdogan has accused the European Union of being “a Christian club” but President Gül on his first official visit to Cyprus in September 2007 stated “There are two realities on Cyprus, two democracies, two states, two languages, two religions”, which are the same arguments advanced by opponents of Turkey’s EU membership.

Turkey’s invasion and occupation of northern Cyprus in 1974 cemented the division of the two communities but also opened a shameful chapter of Turkish history.

The European Commission of Human Rights in its 1976 report documented the conduct of the invasion forces and the Committee on Missing Persons is working to establish the fate of 502 Turkish Cypriots and 1,493 Greek Cypriots missing after the intercommunal fighting in 1963-4 and the Turkish invasion.

The US Helsinki Commission in its 2009 report on the destruction of cultural property in northern Cyprus documented that 500 Orthodox churches or chapels have been pillaged, demolished or vandalized and 15,000 paintings have disappeared.

Furthermore, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has in its 2012 report recommended that Turkey be designated a “country of particular concern” notwithstanding its importance as a strategic partner.

The USCIRF delegation found three main issues in northern Cyprus, including the inability of Orthodox Christians to hold services at their places of worship and the disrepair of churches and cemeteries as well as the preservation of religious heritage.

Egemen Bagis is surely disingenuous when he at the meeting with the Swedish minister criticized the EU for blocking most of Turkey’s accession talks. As he remarked, “They want us to do our homework without actually telling us what our homework is.”

Even to Mr Bagis, the solution must be apparent. In 2006 the EU Council froze negotiations on eight chapters because Turkey refused to honour its commitment according to the Additional Protocol and extend the customs union to the Republic of Cyprus. Consequently, a solution to the conflict would remove the main stumbling block to Turkey’s accession process and serve to heal the wounds of the past.

By virtue of its strategic position, and now because of the gas deposits in its Exclusive Economic Zone, Cyprus is a key player in the eastern Mediterranean, and therefore it was short-sighted of Turkey not to invite Cyprus to the Syria meeting in Istanbul on 1 April.

Once again, the European Parliament has called on Turkey to begin withdrawing its forces from Cyprus, to transfer Famagusta to the UN and for the port of Famagusta to be opened under EU supervision, but this call will no doubt fall on deaf ears. Turkey’s threat to boycott Cyprus’ EU Presidency is also counter-productive.

As the European Parliament concluded in its resolution on Turkey’s 2011 Progress Report, the interdependence between the European Union and Turkey can only produce positive results if it is framed in a context of mutual commitment.

(Robert Ellis is a regular commentator on Turkish affairs in the Danish and international press.)

via Cyprus – a litmus test for Turkey | EuropeNews.

April 14, 2012
CHP holds EU responsible for democracy in Turkey

Hüseyin Hayatsever

ANKARA – Hürriyet Daily News

Sweden’s Bildt hears criticism from the opposition on EU’s support to government. DAILY NEWS photo, Selahattin SÖNMEZ

Turkey’s main opposition leader has told the Swedish foreign minister that the European Union holds responsibility for growing government control of the judiciary and the persecution of journalists because of the support it gave to last year’s constitutional amendments, party sources said.

“The government has taken control of the judiciary following the constitutional amendments of 2010,” sources quoted Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as telling Carl Bildt when the two met behind closed doors yesterday.

The leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) criticized the latest EU report on Turkey’s accession progress, saying it failed to sufficiently highlight “the anti-democratic actions” of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), sources said.

“The EU did not put enough emphasis on this issue. The EU also holds responsibility for the anti-democratic environment in Turkey,” Kılıçdaroğlu was quoted as saying at the meeting.

Bildt, however, described the progress report as “balanced” and said Turkey must undertake further reforms.

Kılıçdaroğlu also advised the EU against high expectations from the new constitution process, arguing that even the current constitution was frequently violated.

“A new constitution will not solve every single problem for Turkey. For instance, the right to privacy is being violated, although it is enshrined in the current constitution,” he said, according to sources.

Without elaborating, Kılıçdaroğlu told Bildt the CHP was ready to support any “reasonable” proposals by the AKP on the Kurdish issue.

Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Bildt tacitly confirmed media reports that the Friends of Turkey group in the EU was working on a plan to end the deadlock in Turkey’s accession talks.

“There are some challenges and difficulties and it requires discussion both between the different countries of the EU and between the EU and Turkey,” Bildt said. “It’s hardly new in that particular aspect, but of course we are working on the different items that can keep the positive momentum on certain issues.”

via CHP holds EU responsible for democracy in Turkey – Hurriyet Daily News.

October 18, 2011
Deportation flights to Iraq resume despite UN warning

Asylum seekers have been returned to Baghdad after a temporary suspension of repatriation flights

Owen Bowcott

Iraqi protesters in Baghdad. As many as 30 have been killed in the 'Arab spring' demonstrations. Photograph: Shihab Ahmed/EPA

The first group deportation of Iraqis for six months has seen a number of asylum seekers returned to a country convulsed by civil rights protests and violence.

The decision to resume charter flights was in defiance of warnings by the United Nations high commissioner for refugees that it is unsafe to remove people to Baghdad and central Iraq.

The plane, organised by the UK Borders Agency in conjunction with the Swedish government and the EU border agency Frontex, left Stansted airport at 7am on Wednesday. Last-minute appeals on behalf of other failed asylum seekers prevented several others from being forcibly repatriated. It is not known how many deportees from Sweden were on board.

Charter flight removals to Baghdad were temporarily suspended last October after the European court of human rights ruled that a surge in sectarian violence and suicide bombings made Baghdad and the surrounding area too dangerous.

The Home Office has since pledged to “continue to undertake” deportations but acknowledged that, in cases where the Strasbourg court supported petitions from individuals demonstrating that they were at risk, it would not enforce removal.

Refugee organisations said that as many as 17 people had been deported, but the Home Office maintained that only eight had gone.

Protesters in Baghdad and northern Iraq are staging “Arab spring”-style protests against corruption, poor services and lack of employment. As many as 30 demonstrators have been killed in the capital and the Kurdish city of Suleimaniya since mid-February as authorities have suppressed dissent.

The UNHCR has criticised European states, including the UK, that have sent Iraqis back to the five central governorates, or provinces, including Baghdad. “We are very concerned about reports that the Home Office has returned Iraqis to Baghdad,” a spokeswoman for the UNHCR said. “The situation for minorities [such as Christians] in Iraq is very precarious. There has been a deterioration in security.”

The International Federation of Iraqi Refugees, which monitors removals, said the resumption of charter flights had been done at a time when attention was focused on Libya.

“The UK government, while it is saying how much it supports democracy and human rights in Libya, continues to support the corrupt governments in Iraq and Kurdistan (sic),” said a spokesman. “Now it is deporting people, many of whom left to flee this same government violence, into the middle of it. It is a criminal hypocrisy and must be stopped.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “The UK courts have confirmed that we are able to return people to all of Iraq and that the return of Kurdish Iraqis via Baghdad does not expose them to serious harm. The UK Border Agency would prefer that those with no legal basis to remain in the UK leave voluntarily. Where they do not, we will seek to enforce their removal.”

guardian.co.uk, 9 March 2011

March 11, 2011