Euro rights chief optimistic for seminary
Güncelleme Tarihi:
FULYA ÖZERKAN
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Temmuz 04, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - The Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner said on Friday that a solution to the problem of reopening the seminary on Heybeliada island off Istanbul was very close.
"I talked about this in Istanbul with the patriarch and government authorities. My impression is that we are very close to a solution to this problem," Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review in an interview.
Ankara is under fire from the European Union to open the Halki seminary, which was closed in 1971.
"I think we could expect this problem will be resolved," said Hammarberg. "There are some questions here if it is right or wrong, but there is considerable progress in the treatment of the Turkish minority in Western Thrace, and the two are parallel developments." But he declined to give a timeframe. "Istanbul next year will be the European Capital of Culture, and of course it would be extremely good if this issue is resolved by then because it would underline that Istanbul is established again as a multicultural metropolis in this part of the world," he said.
Recently, speculation rose that Turkey was willing to open the Halki seminary in return for delaying the EU’s December 2009 deadline for reviewing Turkey’s compliance with the Ankara protocol, which obliges the country to open its ports to shipping from EU-member Greek Cyprus. "I think that the Cyprus issue is separate. I am outside the EU and my philosophy is that [improvement in] human rights is good for the Turkish people not because it is good for possible EU entry," said the commissioner.
Immigration issue
The commissioner began his visit to Turkey last Sunday and wrapped up talks in Ankara following meetings in Istanbul and İzmir. He met with President Abdullah Gül, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ertuğrul Apakan and Interior Ministry officials. A recent EU summit declaration made a reference to Turkey and illegal immigration upon pressure from Greece, which drew ire from Ankara. The document was a result of Greek efforts to secure support from Brussels in its fight to curb illegal immigration.
Hammarberg said, "This is a very complicated matter," adding that both states were putting burdens on each other. "That underlines my point that now governments have to sit down and see this as a common problem and resolve it rather than pushing the burden on one another," he said. "I assume this issue will be under discussion when Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis visits Turkey in two weeks’ time. It is a common problem," he said.
In recent remarks, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Özügergin criticized the EU move and said Turkey was not a third country but a negotiating country that expects the burden must be shared. Hammarberg also expressed dispute with the reciprocity principle Turkey and Greece apply to their minorities.
He said he believed the two issues must be parallel instead of conditional. "For instance if the people here know that Athens is opening up and helping the Turkish minority in Western Thrace, it would be easier for the government here to convince people, so this is a parallel process of recognizing minorities on both sides, which is not reciprocity because it is not a negotiation of conditionality," he said . The commissioner will draft a report on the findings of his visit. It is expected to be published later this year.
Ankara is under fire from the European Union to open the Halki seminary, which was closed in 1971.
"I think we could expect this problem will be resolved," said Hammarberg. "There are some questions here if it is right or wrong, but there is considerable progress in the treatment of the Turkish minority in Western Thrace, and the two are parallel developments." But he declined to give a timeframe. "Istanbul next year will be the European Capital of Culture, and of course it would be extremely good if this issue is resolved by then because it would underline that Istanbul is established again as a multicultural metropolis in this part of the world," he said.
Recently, speculation rose that Turkey was willing to open the Halki seminary in return for delaying the EU’s December 2009 deadline for reviewing Turkey’s compliance with the Ankara protocol, which obliges the country to open its ports to shipping from EU-member Greek Cyprus. "I think that the Cyprus issue is separate. I am outside the EU and my philosophy is that [improvement in] human rights is good for the Turkish people not because it is good for possible EU entry," said the commissioner.
Immigration issue
The commissioner began his visit to Turkey last Sunday and wrapped up talks in Ankara following meetings in Istanbul and İzmir. He met with President Abdullah Gül, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ertuğrul Apakan and Interior Ministry officials. A recent EU summit declaration made a reference to Turkey and illegal immigration upon pressure from Greece, which drew ire from Ankara. The document was a result of Greek efforts to secure support from Brussels in its fight to curb illegal immigration.
Hammarberg said, "This is a very complicated matter," adding that both states were putting burdens on each other. "That underlines my point that now governments have to sit down and see this as a common problem and resolve it rather than pushing the burden on one another," he said. "I assume this issue will be under discussion when Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis visits Turkey in two weeks’ time. It is a common problem," he said.
In recent remarks, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Özügergin criticized the EU move and said Turkey was not a third country but a negotiating country that expects the burden must be shared. Hammarberg also expressed dispute with the reciprocity principle Turkey and Greece apply to their minorities.
He said he believed the two issues must be parallel instead of conditional. "For instance if the people here know that Athens is opening up and helping the Turkish minority in Western Thrace, it would be easier for the government here to convince people, so this is a parallel process of recognizing minorities on both sides, which is not reciprocity because it is not a negotiation of conditionality," he said . The commissioner will draft a report on the findings of his visit. It is expected to be published later this year.