WRITTEN QUESTION No. 494/98 by Alexandros ALAVANOS to the Council. Application by the Turkish authorities of Article 14 of the Treaty of Lausanne
C 304/120 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 2. 10. 98 (98/C 304/180) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0494/98 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Council (27 February 1998) Subject: Application by the Turkish authorities of Article 14 of the Treaty of Lausanne The sacrilegious attack on 3 February 1998 on the Church of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary on the island of Imbros › the perpetrators of which remain at large yet again › is part of a longstanding systematic policy aimed at terrorizing the Greek community on the island. This policy is pursued either directly, e. g. the procedure for drawing up the land register in Gallipoli (my questions E-375/96 (1) and E-3973/96 (2)), or indirectly in the form of the Turkish authoritiesí scandalous inertia in failing to arrest those guilty of crimes against the Greek minority and the Orthodox Church. Article 14 of the Treaty of Lausanne states: The islands of Imbros and Tenedos, remaining under Turkish sovereignty, shall enjoy a special administrative organization composed of local elements and furnishing every guarantee for the native non-Moslem population in so far as concerns local administration and the protection of person and property. The maintenance of order will be assured therein by a police force recruited from amongst the local population by the local administration above provided for and placed under its orders. í What measures will the Council take to persuade Turkey to implement the above special provision of the Treaty, the aim of which is to safeguard the human, religious and minority rights of the Greeks on Imbros and Tenedos? (1) OJ C 122, 25. 4. 1996, p. 39. (2) OJ C 186, 18. 6. 1997, p. 146. Answer (28 May 1998) The Council regrets the recent developments and is well aware that, under the Treaty of Lausanne of July 1923, the Turkish Government has undertaken commitments towards non-Moslem minorities regarding the protection of persons and property. The European Council, meeting in Luxembourg on 12 and 13 December 1997 recalled, in line with the Council position expressed at the Association Council with Turkey on 29 April 1997, that strengthening Turkeyís links with the European Union also depended on Turkeyís pursuit of reforms, including the alignment of human rights standards and practices on those in force in the European Union as well as respect for and protection of minorities, which also encompass religious minorities. The Council expects all countries aspiring to membership of the European Union to respect international law and their treaty obligations as well as to subscribe to the Unionís goals. The situation regarding democracy and human rights in Turkey remains high on the Councilís agenda. These issues are brought up regularly during contacts with the Turkish authorities. (98/C 304/181) WRITTEN QUESTION P-0512/98 by Carlos Carnero Gonza·lez (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (17 February 1998) Subject: Use of Objective 2 Structural Funds in the Autonomous Community of Madrid The media have recently been reporting criticisms by the Federation of Madrid Municipalities (FMM) of the way in which the government of the Autonomous Community of Madrid (CAM) has been managing the Structural Funds received by the region under Objective 2. In view of the importance of this matter, 1. Is the Commission aware of the reasons why the CAM left about ESP 9 000 million of Structural Fund money unused in the three-year period 1994-1996? If so, what is its view of a situation that is likely to result in a significant loss of opportunity for those who benefit from application of the Funds?