Turkey's anti-criticism law draws criticism

Turkey's penal code has an article designed to protect Turkey's national symbols and institutions from criticism. This provision has, ironically, lead to criticism of Turkey for interfering with Turkish citizen's freedom of expression. The criticism has been especially vocal in recent months because it is viewed as an impediment to Turkish membership in the EU, which Turkey is currently negotiating, and because of the trial of Turkey's best-known writer, Orhan Pamuk, for comments considered insulting to the Turkish army. While the Turkish government has not done anything to reform the law, a third source of criticism may finally break the government's intransigence. An MEP is being investigated for violating the law while visiting the country:

The Dutch green deputy Joost Lagendijk is reported to have said during a recent visit to Istanbul: "The military wants clashes with the PKK (Kurdish rebels). This makes it feel powerful and important," according to Reuters.


So disastrous would such a charge be for Turkish membership bid that Turkey's foreign minister has hinted Ankara might change the controversial rules:

Mr Gul indicated on Wednesday that the government could amend the article, arguing that laws are not untouchable and "can be amended if need be," according to AFP.

"We cannot interfere with the courts, but we can monitor how laws are implemented and interpreted and whether that is the direction Turkey wants to take," he said.


Hopefully, this is another sign that Turkey will make the steps necessary to become a modern, liberal democracy.

Link: Turkey considers change to controversial law after MEP probed.

Constitution to wait until 2007

The future fate of the Constitution appears to be on hold until 2007.  The new German Chancellor has proposed making saving the chater the center of the Germans EU presidency in 2007:
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, will propose to attach a declaration on the "social dimension of Europe" to the failed EU constitution, in a bid to save the charter.
According to German daily Handelsblatt the non-binding declaration should call upon the EU institutions to better consider the social implications of EU internal market legislation. But the text of the constitution should remain unchanged, according to sources in the European Peoples Party.
The declaration should help reassure French and Dutch voters, who rejected the treaty in referendums last spring, largely in protest against globalisation, enlargement and liberalisation of the service markets.
The Constitution will have to wait until 2007 because the 2006 Austrian and Finnish presidencies will not be pushing for ratification. The good news is that Portugal will follow up Germany's efforts in its presidency in the second half of 2007.

Who will lead Europe?

Given the awful performance of the British presidency and the lackluster promise of the Austrian presidency, Peter Sain ley Berry asks the most important question of the next year: Who will lead Europe in 2006?

Budget Deal and Europe's new Power Structure in Europe

With a lackluster budget deal in place, Europe can breath a bit easier. However, the budget deal is not all that it seems. As ususal, Deutche Welle has a good analysis of what the budget deal means for Europe.

Informed Comment

A great deal has been said in the media about the riots in France and most of it is wrong. Most importantly the riots are not religious, they are about race and class. If you want a good summary of what is going on, read Jaun Cole's post on "The Problem with Frenchness".

Direct elections to EP under attack from

The idea of a directly elected European Parliament has come under surprising criticism the last few weeks. Introduced in 1979, direct elections to the EP are a watershed event in the move towards democratic governance of the EU. Yet in the last few weeks, the presidents of both the Czech Republic and Slovakia along with the Finnish foreign minister have openly criticized the parliament and suggested that MEPs should be members of the national parliaments as they were before 1979. Their comments are troubling and they may signal a growing conservative backlash against Europe.

Coalition Formation Craziness Grips Europe

Understanding government

Polish minority government faces baptism of fire

02.11.2005 - 16:48 CET | By Andrew Rettman
Poland has sworn in a new minority government with neutral experts in key posts, but the rightist Law and Justice party's links with populist eurosceptics could undermine its ability to rule.

Eight of the 17 cabinet posts have been filled by technocrats, with veteran diplomat Stefan Meller as new foreign minister, cardiologist Zbigniew Religa on health and sociologist Grazyna Gesicka on regional development.

The Religa and Gesicka appointments are designed to mend relations with Civic Platform, since both openly supported the more liberal platform in recent elections.

Law and Justice loyalist Ludwik Dorn is the new interior minister, while party adherents also scooped the finance, economy, labour and agriculture jobs.

The new cabinet will present its programme on Thursday (3 November) and face a vote of confidence in the lower house on 10 November.

Civic Platform and Law and Justice, each holding about a quarter of seats in parliament, fell out last week after Law and Justice sided with the populist eurosceptic parties, Self-Defence and the League of Polish Families, to install its man as lower house speaker.

Rift deepens
"A parliamentary coalition of Law and Justice, Self-Defence and maybe the League of Polish Families is already at work supporting the minority government of [new prime minister] Marcinkiewicz. Civic Platform for obvious reasons will not take part in this", Civic Platform head Donald Tusk told Polish daily Rzeczpospolita on Wednesday.

The enmity between the two main parties will deepen if Law and Justice sides with the same allies in order to secure the confidence vote next week.

Self-Defence leader Andrzej Lepper has already signalled he would join up with Law and Justice if the party promises to renegotiate Poland's EU accession treaty, Gazeta Wyborcza writes.

Some analysts worry that a head-on collision between Law and Justice and Civic Platform will cause political paralysis at a time when Poland is playing for high stakes on the EU 2007-2013 budget and eurozone entry.

"I am 100 percent sure that it [Mr Marcinkiewicz's government] will not survive the full term", Warsaw university politics expert Kuba Krzysiak told Rzeczpospolita.

"We will probably witness frequent cabinet reshuffles and numerous parliamentary debates over government policy leading to a vote of no confidence", he added.

Meller in EU debut
Meanwhile, the new foreign minister, Stefan Meller, will represent Poland at Monday's meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, where he is likely to ask for further EU action on Belarus.

Mr Meller is a 63-year old former ambassador to Paris and Moscow who speaks French, English, Russian and German.

He told the newsagency, PAP, his priority will be to preserve a rapport with Russia, Germany, the EU and US.

Polish president-elect Lech Kaczynski made provocative statements about Germany and Russia’s historic oppression of Poland in last month's election campaign.

As mayor of Warsaw, he also named a roundabout after the late Chechen separatist Djohar Dudajev.