News & press releases
PES President Sergei Stanishev calls for a Renewed EU-Turkey Agenda
Twelve years after granting candidate status and six years after the start of accession negotiations, EU-Turkey relations are today at a virtual standstill. It is in the interest of Turkey and the EU that this process is reinvigorated. The goal is Turkish membership in the European Union. Accession must be an open-ended process with conditions, yes, but not with political vetoes. The European Socialist family is the political family most committed to EU integration and the enlargement process. Therefore the PES believes that it is crucial to launch a new EU-Turkey Agenda.
PES Secretary General Philip Cordery met with Mr Faruk Loğoğlu, Deputy Chairman of the CHP, Turkey.
Today the PES Secretary General Philip Cordery met with Deputy Chairman of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Mr. Faruk Loğoğlu. During the meeting the current political situation and struggles in Turkey were discussed. The PES is concerned about the continuing repressions of freedom of speech and assembly in Turkey. This ominous situation has recently escalated with the case against CHP leader Mr. Kemal Kilicdaroglu. The PES criticizes the politically motivated actions of the State Prosecutor in this case.
PES against the withdrawal of Hatip Dicle’s mandate and other Turkish MPs
The Turkish Supreme Electoral Board decided on June 21th to take away the mandate of Hatip Dicle in the Turkey Great National Assembly. The board determined that he could not hold office while being imprisoned, whereas before he was allowed to be a candidate. Hatip Dicle is not the only candidate elected who was removed from his mandate during the last weeks.
PES condemns Turkey’s decision to ban the DTP
The Party of European Socialists (PES) condemns the decision taken by the Constitutional Court of Turkey on Friday 11 December 2009 to ban the DTP, one of the main opposition parties in the Parliament. As part of this ruling, 37 members and executives of the party were banned, including its leader, Mr. Ahmet Turk. Although 19 members of the party still sit in the Parliament, they have lost their official group status and consequently have only a marginal role.
Israeli Labour Party should now enter government
The Israeli election results – with exit polls giving Kadima a lower than expected 29 seats and Labour an excellent 19 seats – makes the Labour Party a natural coalition Government member commented the President of the Party of European Socialists, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen. “This result should propel the Israeli Labour Party into Government” said Rasmussen. “For the sake of Israeli society, the new Government must put the concerns of the Labour Party about economic justice and social cohesion high on their agenda.”
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