EU should halt accession talks with Turkey over human rights abuses, says European Parliament
On 13 February, t
he European Parliament adopted its 2018 report on the accession of Turkey. The report recommends the Commission and the Council to formally suspend the accession negociations with Turkey, in light of multiple human rights abuses and regression of the rule of law.
Kati Piri, member of the LGBTI Intergroup and rapporteur for the report, said : « The European Parliament has expressed its concern over the regression of the rule of law in Turkey since 2017. Since then, Turkey has taken no concrete measure to counter this, nor to protect the fundamental rights of its citizens, including those belonging to minorities.
With this report, the European Parliament sends a clear message : the EU cannot continue accession talks with Turkey without genuine democratic reforms and the restoration of the rule of law – while we remain committed to a democratic and political dialogue with the country »
The report also expresses concern specifically at violations of the human rights of LGBTI people – « in particular the repeated bans on Pride marches and LGBTI-related events across the country which are still being imposed, despite the lifting of the state of emergency » and calls on Turkey to lift these bans immediately (para. 12).
Terry Reintke, co-chair of the LGBTI Intergroup, commented : « We have seen Prides being banned in Turkey, one after the other, since 2015. The European Parliament has constantly denounced these unacceptable attacks on freedom of assembly and expression.
It is time the EU as a whole takes a stand against these repeated attacks on human rights in Turkey. »
The LGBTI Intergroup has actively denounced attacks on LGBRI rights and bans on Pride Marches in Turkey. Read more about our previous actions here.
