Roundup: MEPs call for new relationship with post-referendum Turkey

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) called on Wednesday for the European Union (EU)'s relationship with Turkey to be reassessed.

This came after the controversial Turkish constitutional referendum held on April 16, and in which 51 percent of votes favored constitutional reform that would see sweeping new powers bestowed on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The referendum, held to deem whether Turkish voters wished to see the country's constitution changed in order to create a presidential system in lieu of the current parliamentary system, has been critiqued by some external and international observers for irregularities calling into question the fairness of the vote.

Introducing the European Parliament's Wednesday debate on the future of EU-Turkey relations, parliamentary President Antonio Tajani declared, The European Union does not intend in any way to close the door to the Turkish people, with whom "we are friends with and with whom we want dialogue and openness."

"We cannot look the other way when events proceed along a course which is in the opposite direction of the process of European construction," he said, while pointing to the possible reintroduction of the death penalty as "an inviolable red line" for any future Turkish accession to the European Union.

Tajani insisted however, that "Europe is not an islamophobic continent," with millions of European citizens exercising their freedom to practice Islam.

"We have stressed on many occasions that it is Turkey's sovereign right to let its citizens vote on whether to have a parliamentary or a presidential system," European Commissioner Johannes Hahm, charged with the European Neighborhood Policy and Englargement negotiations, told MEPs on Wednesday. "However, the constitutional reform and the circumstances in which the referendum took place are a matter of concern."

Dahm expressed the European Commission's concerns that the proposed constitutional reforms would move Turkey "even further away from European standards." The Commissioner also highlighted that the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe had found the circumstances of the vote to not have been a "level playing field." He also underlined that the close result indicated a highly-divided population.

Following the Commissioner's presentation, MEPs almost unanimously called for reassessments of the EU-Turkey relationship, with many questioning the honesty of continued accession negotiations.

Manfred Weber (Germany), chairman of the European People's Party, was highly critical of the negotiations which began in 2005. "Unfortunately, Mr. Erdogan, with his behavior, is closing the door to partnership with the European Union. Turkey is going in the wrong direction, anyone with open eyes can see that. It's time for us to reassess our relationship."

The EPP chairman asserted, even so, that he didn't "want to close the door," and that a new relationship was necessary.

Elsewhere, the main Turkish opposition party, the CHP (Republican People's Party), will challenge the referendum result at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), after a Turkish High Court refused to hear its appeal on Tuesday.

As a member of the Council of Europe, Turkey is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Council of Europe, a pan-European human rights body based in Strasbourg, has also expressed concern about the referendum results. Its secretary general Thorbjorn Jagland has stressed the need for the independence of the Turkish judiciary in the constitutional reforms.

On Tuesday the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe voted to reopen its monitoring procedure due to "serious concerns" about human rights. The CoE's decision irritated Ankara, which, in a strongly-worded statement, condemned the "unjust decision of PACE taken with political motives in contravention to the established procedures." Endit