European Union (EU) Commission 2022 Turkey Report has been published. In the statement regarding the report; “The structural deficiencies of the presidential system continue. Key recommendations of the Council of Europe and its bodies have not yet been implemented. Regarding the tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, “Turkish warships have illegally blocked the exploration activities in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Cyprus. Turkey’s military exercises in the maritime jurisdiction areas of Cyprus continued.
EU Commission’s 2022 Turkey Report has been published.
In the press release, which includes the main findings of the report, the following were summarized:
“THE DEFECTS IN THE FUNCTIONING OF DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS”
“There are serious deficiencies in the functioning of Turkey’s democratic institutions. During the reporting period, the democratic decline continued. The structural deficiencies of the presidential system continue. Key recommendations of the Council of Europe and its bodies have not yet been implemented. The Assembly continues to lack the necessary tools to ensure government accountability. Constitutional architecture; The Legislature continued to centralize powers in the Presidency without ensuring a robust and effective separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary.
The State of Emergency Procedures Investigation Commission has not yet completed the review of the backlog of civil servants dismissed under the emergency decree. In July 2021, the TGNA passed a law extending the duration of some restrictive applications of the state of emergency for another year.
The judiciary continued to systematically target MPs of opposition parties based on allegations of terrorism-related crimes. The legal framework regarding elections and political parties remains problematic. The electoral threshold was lowered from 10 percent to 7 percent. Turkey has not yet addressed the remaining recommendations of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the Venice Commission.
In the Southeast, local democracy continued to be severely hampered. In the Southeast, the forcibly dismissed mayors continued to be replaced by government-appointed trustees.
“EU OPENLY CONDEMNS PKK ATTACKS”
The Turkish government continued to conduct military operations and national and cross-border security operations in Iraq and Syria. Security conditions in the border areas continued to be dangerous due to repeated terrorist acts by the PKK, which remains on the EU’s list of individuals, groups and organizations involved in terrorist acts. The EU openly condemned the PKK attacks and expressed its solidarity with the families of the victims.
Civilian oversight of the security forces has not been consolidated. The accountability of the military, police and intelligence units remained very limited. Parliamentary oversight of security institutions needs to be strengthened. In July, Parliament increased the retirement age of the Chief of the General Staff from 67 to 72, allowing the current Chief of Staff to serve for another year, while air and navy commanders retired.
“ADMINISTRATION ACCOUNTABILITY IS INSUFFICIENT”
The accountability of the administration is insufficient and human resource management needs to be improved. The policy-making process lacks evidence-based methods and participatory mechanisms. The politicization of the administration continued. The representation rate of women in managerial positions in the civil service remained low.
The implementation of the 2021 human rights action plan and the 2019 judicial reform strategy continued. However, both documents failed to address significant shortcomings in the Turkish judiciary and did not contain a plan for significant improvements in the overall functioning of the country’s judicial system.
The lack of objective, merit-based, uniform and predetermined criteria for the recruitment and promotion of judges and prosecutors is still a cause for concern.
The accountability and transparency of public institutions need to be improved. The absence of an anti-corruption strategy and action plan showed that there was no will to fight corruption decisively. Many of the recommendations of the Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) have not yet been implemented. Overall, corruption is still rampant and remains a cause for concern.
“THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK ON MONEY LAUNDERING SHOULD IMPROVE”
The legal framework regulating the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing; It needs to be improved in line with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force and the Venice Commission on the Law on the Non-Proliferation of the Financing of Weapons of Mass Destruction.
The deterioration of human and fundamental rights continued. Many of the measures introduced during the state of emergency are still in effect. The legal framework includes general guarantees of respect for human and fundamental rights, but legislation and practice need to be aligned with the European Convention on Human Rights and the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe continued to monitor Turkey’s compliance with human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Turkey’s insistence on refusing to implement ECtHR judgments, particularly in the cases of Selahattin Demirtaş and Osman Kavala, raises serious concern about the judiciary’s adherence to international and European standards and Turkey’s commitment to strengthen the rule of law and respect for fundamental rights.
“INCREASE PRINTING BY JUDICIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES CONTINUED TO SHARE THE USE OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION”
Restrictive measures by state institutions and increased pressure by judicial and administrative means continued to undermine the exercise of freedom of expression. Criminal cases and convictions against journalists, human rights defenders, lawyers, writers, opposition politicians, students, artists and social media users continued.
Roma citizens have been largely excluded from formal employment and their living conditions have seriously deteriorated. Gender-based violence, discrimination and hate speech against minorities (particularly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people) are still a matter of serious concern.
Some progress has been made in further strengthening the capacity to monitor and protect the land border with Iran. Returns of irregular migrants from the Greek islands under the EU-Turkey Agreement continued to be suspended, as has been the case since March 2020. In 2021, the number of irregular migrants crossing most routes increased compared to 2020.
Turkey’s unilateral foreign policy continued to conflict with EU priorities under the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), particularly due to its military actions in Syria and Iraq and its failure to comply with EU restrictive measures against Russia.
Turkey’s military support in Libya, its continued criticism of Operation IRINI and its non-cooperation, including the deployment of foreign fighters in the region, undermines the EU’s effective contribution to the implementation of the UN arms embargo, and on Libya has led to conflicting approaches.
“TURKISH COMBAT SHIPS BLESSED SEARCH ACTIVITIES IN CYPRUS’S EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE”
Although there were no unauthorized drilling activities by Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean during the reporting period, tensions are rising. Turkish warships illegally obstructed exploration activities in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone. Military exercises of Turkey in the maritime jurisdiction areas of Cyprus continued. Although the international community, especially the EU, condemned Turkey’s unilateral steps, Turkey continued its actions towards the reopening of the closed Varosha in Cyprus.
The EU Summit held in June 2022 expressed its deep concern over Turkey’s recent repeated actions and statements. Recalling its previous conclusions and its March 2021 statement, it reiterated that Turkey must respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all EU Member States. He emphasized that the EU Summit expects Turkey to fully respect international law, reduce tensions in the name of regional stability in the Eastern Mediterranean, promote good neighborly relations in a sustainable way and fully respect international law.
“ ALIGNMENT WITH THE EU ACQUIS IS LIMITED”
Turkey’s alignment with the EU acquis in terms of its ability to assume the obligations of membership has been very limited and has been maintained on a more ad hoc basis.
The ongoing decline in economic and monetary policy in the chapters related to the economy showed itself with ineffective policies in ensuring price stability and fixing inflation expectations. The central bank is still under serious political pressure and its functional independence needs to be restored.
No progress was made during the reporting period in the area of social policy and employment, where concerns about trade union rights, lack of genuine social dialogue and intense informal economic activity persist.”