New EU Minister: AK Party Oversaw Turkey's Worst EU Accession Process Period

The new EU affairs minister in the interim power-sharing government -- set to last until the snap election in November -- has told members of the press that the period under the stewardship of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) was the worst in Turkey's EU accession process.

Ali Haydar Konca, Kocaeli deputy for the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), launched his press briefing on Monday with a quip, stating that it was a nice coincidence to be appointed EU affairs minister as the votes of Turkish citizens living abroad, mainly in the EU, had helped him to become a deputy in Parliament.

However, Konca's countenance grew stern as he blamed the AK Party and the currently chaotic situation in Turkey for the lost impetus in the EU accession process, which his predecessor had once hailed as "the most important modernization project after the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey."

The aging former bureaucrat said he would be speaking to “an important EU diplomat” after the press conference but forgot the name of his interlocutor until he was informed that it was Federica Mogherini, the high representative of the union for foreign affairs and security policy.

Underlining that a trip to Brussels was in the cards, Konca said: “It is certain that the relations are not going well. It is [also] certain that there are reactions [from the EU] against Turkey. Turkey must ready itself for the EU.”

Turkey's application to accede to the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the EU, was made in 1987. Although Turkey and the EU began accession talks on 35 negotiating chapters in 2005, there has been very little progress since amid opposition to Turkish membership in some EU countries, including France, and the unresolved Cyprus dispute. The EU has opened 14 chapters with Turkey so far, but 17 chapters still remain blocked.

MİT, HSYK laws, Penal Judgeships of Peace cause for concern

He added that a series of laws enacted under the AK Party's 13-year rule as a single-party government, including a much-criticized law granting sweeping powers to the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), needed to be changed for Turkey to resume its path towards a more free and democratic society.

Konca also criticized the domestic security law, which granted sweeping powers to the Interior Ministry, governors, district governors and police.

The domestic security law also expanded the scope of the definition of “other weapons” carried and used by protesters during demonstrations that justify a police officer firing his gun. For example, fireworks are now considered a weapon and a police officer is now entitled to fire at protesters who carry or use fireworks.

He continued by adding that the changes made to Turkey's judiciary were also among the reasons that Turkey is currently straying from its course towards full EU membership. He said the laws changing the structure of the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) as well as the Penal Judgeships of Peace were among the root causes of Turkey's diplomatic problems with the EU.

The HSYK, the highest disciplinary body of the legal system in Turkey, underwent considerable changes in 2010 as part of the proposed amendments to the Turkish Constitution.

In February 2014, in response to the immense pressure of two graft investigations in December 2013 incriminating some of his Cabinet ministers, bureaucrats and even some of his family members, then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pushed for a revision of the legislation relating to the HSYK's structure. This move elicited heaps of criticism from legal experts and political opposition.

The new legislation allows the general council of the HSYK to be able to convene and make decisions with the attendance of 12 members. This has meant that many members of the judiciary have been persecuted or arbitrarily reassigned for handing down judgments contrary to the position of the AK party.

Finally, Konca added the Penal Judgeships of Peace to the factors contributing to the demise of Turkey's judiciary and its relationship with the EU.

Penal Judges of Peace have been criticized for being granted extraordinary powers such as the authority to issue warrants or detentions and to seize property at their own discretion. The judges have faced allegations that they are instruments for enforcing the government's wishes by way of instigating arrests based on the headlines of pro-government newspapers.

The judgeships were formed a mere month before the first wave of operations began -- during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in June 2014. Upon inception, there were 112 courts of this kind in June 2014, a number that swelled to 139 as of February 2015.

Many investigations, detainments, arrests and trials deemed unlawful by prominent jurists, such as the arrest of Samanyolu Broadcasting Corporation CEO Hidayet Karaca, who has been incarcerated for more than 220 days without an indictment, have been done at the hands of the Penal Judgeships of Peace.

Konca said laws and legislations such as these made it hard for Turkish representatives to say anything in their meetings with their foreign counterparts. “The law reform is a problem,” he said.

Konca: So-called genocide or not, a massacre clearly took place

Upon being asked about the stance of his party, the HDP, towards the so-called Armenian genocide and how he would react if he was faced with questions regarding the issue in Europe, Konca said he would have to discuss the issue with his party first.

“So-called [Armenian Genocide] or not, it doesn't matter but it is clear that a massacre took place,” he said. Turkey, a country largely populated by Muslims, accepts that Armenians died during the upheaval of World War I but rejects declarations or legislation by foreign governments that classify the deaths as a genocide.

Ankara says the death toll is inflated and that the killings took place during inter-communal strife in the last days of the Ottoman Empire. According to Turkish officials, Muslim Turks also suffered during the war.

Konca: ‘The weapons must be buried'

Responding to a question about the position of the HDP in reference to the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), to which the HDP accepts that it is affiliated to, Konca said the fighting must stop and that Turkey cannot pursue its goals in Europe until it does.

“The weapons must be buried. We [HDP] are against violence,” he said.

PKK related terror attacks in the Southeast have grown over the past month since a suicide bomber carried out an attack in the Suruç district of Şanlıurfa on July 20, killing 34 activists and injuring more than 100 people. The PKK blames the state for failing to stop the attacks claimed to have been undertaken by a member of the radical terrorist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

On July 22, the PKK assassinated two police officers in retaliation for the Suruç terrorist attack, which resulted in the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) carrying out air strikes against PKK bases in neighboring Iraq.

More than 60 members of the Turkish security forces have been killed in terror-related incidents since the ceasefire between the PKK and Turkey ended in late July.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)