EU points out Turkey's flaws in annual report on bloc 'hopefuls'

AFP - Turkey won little encouragement Tuesday in its stalled bid to join the European Union as the bloc's annual report notched up black marks on rights, politics and normalisation of ties with Cyprus.

The European Commission's yearly report on the state of play for countries wanting to join the 27-nation club praised Ankara, which began accession talks as long ago as 2005, for sticking to the road of "political reform".

The report -- snippets of which were leaked last week -- notably welcomed a September vote ushering in a battery of amendments to its constitution, including the reform of its top courts to reduce the influence of the military, as "an important step in the right direction."

But with a constitution put in place following a 1980 coup -- one of four times the military has forced out elected governments since 1960 -- the EU suggested a new constitution could help set democratic processes in stone.

"A new civilian constitution would provide a solid base for a further strengthening of democracy in Turkey, in line with European standards and the EU accession criteria," the report said.

Turkey was rapped too for "shortcomings" in freedom of religion, a lack of progress on women's and trade union rights, and for scoring "only limited results" on the Kurdish issue, responsible for a resurgence of attacks.

Turning to the divisive issue of EU member Cyprus, which joined in 2004, the report said that while Turkey "has continued to express public support" for UN-run talks between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, "there has been no progress towards normalisation of bilateral relations" with Cyprus.

Turkey had not removed obstacles to the free movement of goods or restrictions on travel links, it said.

Cyprus has been the main obstacle in Turkey making further progress towards joining the union though there has been growing opposition from some quarters, notably France, Germany and Austria to embracing the mainly Muslim nation within the bloc.

The EU report however welcomed Turkey's increasingly active foreign policy role in its region.

"This is an asset for the European Union, provided it is developed as a complement to Turkey's accession process and in coordination with the EU."

Speaking in London on Monday, Turkish President Abdullah Gul criticised EU leaders who oppose his country's bid to join as "sad" and "short-sighted", saying Ankara would help the bloc deal with a changing world.

"The EU will not be weaker but stronger both politically and economically with Turkey's membership," Gul said in a speech to the Chatham House think-tank in London on the eve of receiving its annual prize for statesmanship.

"It is sad to observe that some European leaders do not properly see the future of the world in the span of 20, 50, 70 years time."

Since 2005, Turkey has only succeeded in opening 13 of 35 chapters that need to be negotiated, and closed one, with 18 others blocked either by the EU as a whole, by the Greek Cypriot-led government, or by France.

A further three are due to be opened, including one this year.