EU Criticises Turkey on Human Rights

The European commission today pressed Turkey to do more to improve human rights and said it was still uncovering evidence of torture and ill-treatment of minorities.

In a flurry of Brussels activity that also saw the commission give Macedonia its blessing to become an EU candidate, a progress report warned that Ankara's reforms had experienced a backwards slide.

Olli Rehn, the enlargement commissioner, said Turkey needed to intensify its efforts.

"There are still major problems to be tackled and even if Turkey sufficiently meets the political criteria it needs to significantly reinforce its efforts to enhance the rule of law and human rights."

The EU report said 331 complaints of torture were made to the Human Rights Association of Turkey in the first three months of this year.

The report sounded one positive note, declaring the country a "functioning market economy".

Entry negotiations, which officially started last month after a bout of late-night diplomacy to overcome Austrian opposition, are likely to last at least a decade. Laws to stamp out torture and grant civilian control of the military are expected in two years but Mr Rehn warned the pace of implentation was uneven.

He also raised concerns of the upcoming trial of novelist Orhan Pamuk affair for mention of the 1915 Armenian genocide, which the Turkish republic has always denied. Mr Rehn has previously called the prosecution a "provocation".

"Bold and significant reforms have been undertaken in Turkey in the last couple of years. However, the pace of change has slowed in 2005 and even though there is progress in implementation it still remains uneven," Mr Rehn said. "Significant further efforts are needed."

The commission also called on Turkey to recognise the Greek-Cypriot leaders of Cyprus, one of the 25 EU members. Ankara is expected to be pushed early on in negotiations to end its sole recognition of the breakaway Turkish-Cypriot republic in the north.

It has so far agreed to a custom's union but insists that does not amount to recognition. As an EU member, however, Cyprus has the power to freeze the membership talks. A government spokesman in Nicosia said Turkey had an "obligation to carry out all its commitments".

Bulgaria and Romania are scheduled to join the EU in 2007 as the bloc expands further into south-east Europe and the Balkans. Elsewhere in the region, Croatia was today told it "meets the political criteria" while Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro received progress reports on their first-stage talks towards achieving candidate status.