Turkish opposition steps up referendum campaign

Asked by EurActiv to comment on the Turkish referendum, Angela Filote, spokesperson for Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle, said the final say belonged to Turkish voters. 

"The Commission does not intend to interfere in the campaign. We will obviously respect the outcome of the referendum and continue to work with all actors in Turkey towards further necessary reforms," she said.

Filote explained that when the Commission received the draft reform package, it described it as a step in the right direction as it addressed a number of long-standing priorities which the EU has identified over the years in its Progress Reports and Accession Partnerships. She listed some positive elements of the proposed amendments:

• Regarding military justice, the reform restricts the competence of military courts to crimes of military personnel related to military service and duties, and allows civilian courts to try military personnel on all other occasions;
• It allows for trial of the army chief and his aides by the Supreme Court;
• The composition of the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors is widened and aims to represent the judiciary as a whole;
• The reforms also allow for positive discrimination measures for women and children;
• The package also extends the rights of civil servants to collective bargaining and agreements, but not the right to vote.
• It provides a legal basis for establishing the institution of an ombudsman.

Filote said the Commission regretted the lack of dialogue and compromise in the preparation phase of the reform package and the referendum campaign itself. 

"We believe that a broader dialogue would have laid the ground for a broader consensus among Turkey's citizens and civil society," she said.

If the reforms are approved, implementation will be key and the Commission will closely monitor how this is done, the spokesperson concluded.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has renewed his call for the Republican People's Party (CHP) to support efforts to lift Turkey's controversial headscarf ban once the 12 September referendum is complete, in a move that tests the CHP's stance regarding the Islamic garment, the daily Zaman writes.

Turkey's longstanding headscarf issue was swept back onto the agenda last week after Kılıçdaroğlu pledged to resolve the issue if his party came to power, the daily recalls.

"I promise that the CHP will allow people to wear the headscarf. The prime minister will see. He couldn't manage it, but we will," the CHP leader vowed.

However, Erdoğan has expressed doubts about the CHP leader's sincerity on the headscarf issue, Zaman also recalls.

MEP Adrian Severin, the S&D Group Vice-President for Foreign Affairs, expressed support for the CHP, “regardless of the different points of view expressed on the issue of the referendum”.

“There should be no doubt as to our solidarity with the CHP and to our belief that the CHP represents a democratic force working in the interest of Turkey. Therefore, it is our duty to support the CHP in its democratic endeavour,” Severin, who is a former Foreign Minister of Romania, states.

“The Socialist and Democrats Group (S&D Group) has not held a thorough debate on the constitutional amendments to be submitted to a referendum in Turkey, on September 12 […] Thus, any opinions expressed so far in relation to the said amendments constitute solely the individual positions of S&D members,” Severin notes.

Following controversial statements made by Austrian Socialist MEP Hannes Swoboda (see EurActiv 26/07/10), the latest statement appears to dispel doubts in Turkey and concerns in CHP ranks that the European Socialists were supporting the ‘yes’ vote.