"Turkish Constitution should reflect diversity"

10.00.00pm GMT Tue 4th Mar 2008

"The new Turkish Constitution should abandon the notion of 'Turkishness'

and emphasise citizenship, irrespective of ethnic identity", concluded

MEPs Andrew Duff, Joost Lagendijk and Jan Marinus Wiersma at a

conference on the Turkish Constitution and the Kurdish question in the

European Parliament yesterday and today.

The conference, jointly organised by the Socialist, Liberal, and Green

Groups, came after after last year's elections in Turkey, which

signalled readiness to find a new approach to the Kurdish question from

the country's leadership.

The three MEPs, however, criticised the main Turkish political parties

for their absence from the conference: "We really believe this issue can

only be tackled through an open political dialogue, with a view to

ending the spiral of terrorist attacks and military retribution.

Unfortunately, representatives of the main Turkish political parties

decided not to attend the conference", said Jan Marinus Wiersma,

Vice-President of the Socialist Group.

As the constitutional reform process is under way in Turkey, the MEPs

stressed that a more thoughtful attitude towards the Kurdish question

would greatly help Turkey's accession process, as long as certain

fundamental principles are kept in mind.

"Turkey needs to move from military to civil operations", said Liberal

MEP Andrew Duff, "and begin a much broader consultation on desired

changes in the Constitution."

The MEPs recommended Turkey to look for solutions based on European

values and principles, including respect for the territorial integrity

of Turkey, respect for the rights of minorities and acknowledgement of

the country's ethnic diversity.

"The new Constitution should start from the basic principle of

individual citizenship, with all citizens being equal irrespective of

their ethnic or religious background," said Joost Lagendijk, MEP for The

Greens.

"We also strongly advise Turkey to use the new Constitution to commence

a process of decentralisation and to allow for the expression of

cultural diversity", said Joost Lagendijk. "The country could look to

positive examples of decentralisation and the recognition of differences

in other European countries."

ENDS