Turkish Forum

Tag: William Hague

  • The EU and Turkey: steering a safer path through the storms

    The EU and Turkey: steering a safer path through the storms

    By Eleven EU foreign ministers Published on December 3, 2011

    THE EU is currently focused on the turmoil in the eurozone. That poses severe risks to economic growth across our countries. But these tumultuous economic and political times should not lead to the EU turning its back on its neighbourhood.

    In particular, Turkey is an important partner as a new economic powerhouse for the single market and a growing regional power that could contribute to our shared foreign policy effort. We believe strongly in the benefits the Turkish accession process has brought both to the EU and Turkey and in its continued importance for driving progress towards shared goals such as economic competitiveness, energy security and regional stability.

    Since the start of the new millennium, Turkey has grown in influence and authority as a regional power in the Western Balkans, Central and South Asia and the Horn of Africa. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu has been a key interlocutor, not least on Afghanistan where he made a huge personal contribution to last month’s conference in Istanbul. With Turkey as host, for the first time, Afghanistan’s neighbours have agreed to implement political and security measures to underpin the cause of reconciliation. The ‘Arab Spring’ underlines the strong interests the EU and Turkey have in working together to ensure the region changes for the better. We welcome Turkey’s increasing participation in EU foreign policy discussions, where Turkey’s insight and influence have shown how the EU’s global reach can be strengthened by Turkey at a time of global uncertainty.

    Turkish economic growth has been exponential. Turkey is the 16th largest economy in the world and will assume the Presidency of the G20 in 2015. Turkey is the EU’s seventh largest trade partner. This growth has been underpinned by close economic ties with the EU in which 46 per cent of Turkey’s trade is with the EU. More than two thirds of Turkey’s foreign direct investment is from the EU. With growth in Turkey around 10 per cent in the first half of this year, there is enormous potential for the close EU-Turkey economic relationship to deepen.

    Turkey has also transformed its governance, society and democracy. Civilian control of the military has been firmly embedded and judicial reform is underway. The rights of minorities have gradually improved – most recently through legislation helping minority religious foundations to recover property confiscated in the 1930s. And Turkey is now embarking on a new transformation discussing replacement of the current constitution drafted by the military in 1980.

    The EU has been at the heart of this transformation since the new millennium, the accession negotiations helping to guide the Turkish reform process. In support of Turkey’s reforms, the EU has committed technical assistance and funding worth over €750 million in 2011 including work to strengthen democratic institutions, protect fundamental rights and strengthen civil society. Recent progress in the accession negotiations has been disappointingly slow, but Turkey continues to pursue reforms to align its legislation with the EU acquis. We strongly welcome Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle’s “renewed positive agenda” for EU-Turkey relations. This offers new opportunities to reinforce economic relations, deepen dialogue, support Turkey’s domestic reform agenda and combat illegal migration, while making it easier to travel legally between the EU and Turkey. We look forward to working with Turkey on this agenda in a way which complements and supports the accession process.

    Naturally, the accession process places requirements for reform on Turkey. It needs to do more to meet EU standards, including on fundamental rights. In its recent Progress Report, the European Commission noted concerns over how judicial processes were affecting freedom of the media, and that more work is needed to guarantee the rights of minorities. The new constitution is a significant opportunity to transform Turkey further, including by providing a framework to address the Kurdish issue, and we welcome Prime Minister Erdo?an’s commitment to a constitution that reflects the aspirations of all citizens. Turkey is experiencing a brutal wave of terrorism instigated by the PKK that we utterly condemn.

    Turkey must also work to support a Cyprus settlement, and open its ports to the Republic of Cyprus as it has committed to do. A Cyprus settlement would have benefits extending well beyond the island, from aviation safety to more efficient EU/NATO co-operation. Negotiations on a comprehensive settlement have now reached an intensive phase and we welcome the commitment of President Christofias and Dr Ero?lu to work within the UN framework for a successful outcome.

    Turkey’s accession process is of vital strategic and economic importance for both the EU and Turkey. We welcome Turkey’s commitment to continuing reforms to meet its European goal and offer her our full support. Together, the EU and Turkey can steer a safer path through the current global economic and political storms.

    Article was released on www.euobserver.com on behalf of eleven EU foreign ministers: Audronis Ažubalis, Carl Bildt, Edgars Rink?vi?s, Erkki Tuomioja, Guido Westerwelle, Giulio Terzi, János Martonyi, Karel Schwarzenberg, Samuel Žbogar, Urmas Paet and William Hague, the foreign ministers of Lithuania, Sweden, Latvia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Estonia and the UK.

    via The EU and Turkey: steering a safer path through the storms – Cyprus Mail.

  • UK Foreign Minister Hague to ‘draw torture claims line’

    UK Foreign Minister Hague to ‘draw torture claims line’

    HagueForeign Secretary William Hague is to stress the Government’s commitment to “drawing a line” under the alleged involvement of Britain’s intelligence agencies in the torture of terror suspects held overseas.

    In a rare speech on the use of secret intelligence, Mr Hague will praise the agencies as “vital assets” which protect lives and make a “critical contribution” to safeguarding UK national interests.

    He will, however, acknowledge that Britain’s reputation had been damaged by a series of claims that MI5 and MI6 officers had been complicit in the extraordinary rendition of terror suspects leading to their detention and torture overseas.

    “The very making of these allegations undermined Britain’s standing in the world as a country that upholds international law and abhors torture,” he will say, according to advance extracts of his speech.

    “As a Government we understand how important it is that we not only uphold our values and international law, but that we are seen to do so.”

    Mr Hague will point to the establishment of the detainee inquiry under Sir Peter Gibson and the recent green paper proposals to enable the greater use of secret intelligence material in court cases as evidence of the Government’s commitment to tackle the issue.

    “We are confident that taken together these changes represent the most comprehensive effort yet to address the complex issues thrown up by the need to protect our security in the 21st century, and to do so in a way that upholds our values and begins to restore public confidence,” he will say.

    “So this will be our Government’s approach: drawing a line under the past, creating the right legislative framework so that the interests of national security and justice are reconciled, and drawing on the talents and capabilities of the intelligence agencies to support foreign policy and our national security.”

    Both approaches have been controversial. Lawyers representing detainees have said they will boycott the Gibson inquiry complaining the hearings will largely be secret and it will not seek evidence from other countries involved.

    The green paper has been criticised by human rights groups who have warned that it will lead to greater secrecy in the justice system, making it more difficult to hold the authorities to account for alleged abuses.

     

    Press Association 

  • UK to expand its activities in Turkey

    UK to expand its activities in Turkey

    İPEK YEZDANİ

    ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

    British Foreign Minister William Hague announced last week that there would be a shift of resources in Britain’s diplomatic missions around the world. AP photo

    British Foreign Minister William Hague announced last week that there would be a shift of resources in Britain’s diplomatic missions around the world. AP photo

    British Foreign Minister William Hague announced last week that there would be a shift of resources in Britain’s diplomatic missions around the world. AP photo

    The United Kingdom has decided to expand its diplomatic missions in Turkey due to the country’s increasing international importance, the charge d’affaires of the British Embassy in Ankara told the Hürriyet Daily News on Monday.

    Turkey’s growing role in the Middle East, its membership in the G-20 and its becoming more vocal and active around the world were among the factors that contributed to the decision, according to embassy official Giles Portman.

    “We are focusing on the countries that we think are going to have a global influence in the future,” he said. “In all the consulates in Europe we will be reducing our staff; Istanbul is the only consulate in Europe where we are growing our political staff.”

    British Foreign Minister William Hague announced last week that there would be a shift of resources in Britain’s diplomatic missions around the world. Besides significantly increasing its presence in emerging superpowers China and India, Hague said the U.K. would also make a substantial expansion of its diplomatic strength in Brazil, Turkey, Mexico and Indonesia.

    “This is something that is going to boost our power of influence, particularly in the most powerful economies in the future. Turkey was identified as one of those important countries,” Portman said, adding that there would probably be new consulates opening in several big cities in Turkey.

    “The names of the cities are not certain yet but we might open subordinate consulates on the south coast of Turkey as well as in some big industrial cities such as Bursa and Kayseri,” he said.

    The embassy in Ankara and the consulate in Istanbul will also get bigger, with a combination of more senior British diplomats and senior Turkish staff based in both cities, Portman added.

    ‘Istanbul is very important’

    The growth in Istanbul while other European consulates reduce staff show that “Istanbul is very important for us,” Portman said.

    “We have actually been expanding in Turkey for several years now. We have a new strategic partnership that was launched last year,” he said. “But what the foreign secretary wanted to do is to make a strategic shift by reducing some of our staff in some European countries and focusing on the countries that we think are going to have a global influence in the future.”

    According to Portman, Turkey “is a vital partner in NATO, has an important influence in Middle Eastern countries as an EU candidate and negotiating country, is very popular with British tourists and is a country with which we certainly want to double our trade.”

    All of these factors “make Turkey very important to us,” he said, explaining that this is “why we decided to focus even more resources on Turkey in the future.”

    Portman said the new missions would focus closely on the “prosperity agenda,” which he said “means support for Turkey but also support for British business. It is also about increasing our trade link and continuing our support for Turkey’s EU accession.”

    The shift in resources might also create new areas of work in the consulates’ commercial and trade areas, Portman said. “We want to continue our work on increasing prosperity and work on things like energy security and energy cooperation with Turkey,” he added.