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EU Weakens Criticism Of Erdoğan In Return For Refugee Agreement

28.11.2015 11:21

Arif TekdalThe EU will turn a blind eye to the perpetual deterioration of freedoms in Turkey, despite the arbitrary arrest of one of the country's most respected journalists this week, particularly at a time when it needs Turkey to sign an action plan to stem the flow of Syrian refugees.

Arif Tekdal

The EU will turn a blind eye to the perpetual deterioration of freedoms in Turkey, despite the arbitrary arrest of one of the country's most respected journalists this week, particularly at a time when it needs Turkey to sign an action plan to stem the flow of Syrian refugees.

The latest victims of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's recurrent blows to media freedoms were editor-in-chief of the Cumhuriyet daily, Can Dündar, and the paper's Ankara representative Erdem Gül.

The duo was arrested on charges of being members of a terror organization and of espionage, following a complaint lodged personally by Erdoğan over their reporting on Turkish intelligence trucks allegedly carrying weapons to radical groups in Syria.

The charges could see them spend life in prison.

However, what is more damning than the arbitrary imprisonment of a journalist for writing an article is that Erdoğan said on live television that he “believed” that the individual who undertook the exclusive story would “pay a heavy price.” “I won't leave it at that” he said in a televised interview with pro-government reporters in in a television interview with state broadcaster TRT late in June.

With the imprisonment of Dündar and Gül, Turkey currently has 30 journalists in prison.

In a bid to ease growing concerns over dwindling press freedom in Turkey, Davutoğlu told CNN International's Christiane Amanpour on Nov. 9 that freedom of the press and intellectual freedoms are a "personal redline" for him. “First of all, when I was an academic in the 1990s, I was also working as a columnist. So freedom of the press and intellectual freedom are redlines for me,” Davutoğlu said. “If there's an attack on any intellectual or columnist or a journalist, I will defend them. I give assurances of this,” he added.

However, since Davutoğlu's proclamation, Today's Zaman Editor-in-Chief Bülent Keneş was taken to court facing over 8 years in prison on charges of “insulting” President Erdoğan in a series of tweets. Additionally, a regime-influenced court ordered the appointment of trustees to the management of Kaynak holdings, which consists of 23 companies, including the country's largest publishing house. Little was heard from the EU. Likewise a total of 13 TV and radio stations including Samanyolu TV, Mehtap TV, S Haber and Radio Cihan that are critical of the AK Party were taken off the state-owned Turkish Satellite Communications Company (Türksat).

Recently, EU support for the preservation of freedom of speech and media freedoms in Turkey has dwindled, especially since Europe has been struggling with the flow of refugees; the fallout of a catastrophic civil war being waged in Syria.

Ahead of the summit, the Alliance for the Liberal Democrats in Europe called on Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, to address the issue of human rights during the summit.

ALDE leaders: refugee crisis should not compromise EU human rights standards

In a statement on Friday, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Group leader, Guy Verhofstadt, said cooperation with Turkey on the refugee crisis should not compromise EU human rights standards.

"I urge Donald Tusk and EU leaders to be very clear in their meeting with Prime Minister Davutoglu, on the urgent need for Turkey to do more to respect the rule of law and fundamental freedoms in Turkey. These are the two key areas which must not be compromised in any accession negotiations. The EU's credibility is at stake here.”

The Vice-President of the European Parliament, ALDE MEP Alexander Graf Lambsdorff (FDP, Germany), who is also EP rapporteur on Turkey, said, "It looks like a mockery, when two such respected journalists are arrested right before the EU-Turkey summit on Sunday. The situation is absurd. The new government has just announced that it intends to focus on democratization, and on the same day it issues this arrest warrant. Independent journalism in Turkey has no chance."

Long gone are the harsh reprimands we used to see from the EU to the Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) aggression, such as when German Chancellor Angela Merkel postponed the opening of the 22nd accession chapter, citing grave human rights violations in the Gezi Park protests in 2013.

On the contrary, this period may be highlighted in future years as “Europe's most ardent courtship of a Turkish leader in the post-Ottoman era,” a phrase employed by the Financial Times (FT) to denote the severity of the issue. It was the same Merkel who provided Erdoğan and the AK Party with much needed support during her mid-campaign visit to Turkey. The convenient delay of Turkey's

EU progress report, in which the EU voiced harsh criticisms towards the AK Party, was also much-appreciated by Ankara.

On Thursday evening just as Dündar and Gül were being taken to Metris prison, the European Parliament's Turkey rapporteur, Kati Piri tweeted, “Refugee crisis or not, press freedom in #Turkey is top priority of European Parliament.” How Brussels plans to keep press freedom at the top of the agenda whilst showering the Erdoğan administration with political and economic favors, such as 3 billion euro in cash and the relaxation of visa regulations, is as of yet, uncertain.

The EU Commissioner responsible for negotiations, Johannes Hahn, recently suggested that there could be a new beginning for Turkey's EU accession process with the opening of new chapters, one of Turkey's demands. Turkey's demand that its officials are once again invited to high level EU summits appears to have been accepted as Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu is set to attend the summit on Sunday, which will be a first in Turkey's 56-year-history with the EU.

However, the tone of the summit is expected to be different to that envisioned by Turkey as Davutoğlu will be expected to sign an agreement to ensure Turkey becomes a buffer zone for refugees, who would normally be headed for European capitals. EU officials are convinced Erdoğan has the ability to sharply cut the flow of refugees from Turkey, should he want to, and are determined to see concrete results by the end of the year.

Erdoğan clearly has the upper hand in the negotiations with the EU, something he was reported to have made clear to Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission president in a recent meeting. Erdoğan reportedly belittled Juncker by calling him the “the former prime minister of a country the size of a Turkish city.”

How the EU will change its rhetoric if and when the refugee crisis is over, remains to be seen, but as many critics fear, it may be too little too late. (Cihan/Today's Zaman)



 
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