WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1469/99 by Lucio MANISCO Death sentence passed on the Kurdish leader Ocalan
29. 1. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 27 E/83 earthquakes in Turkey and Greece as well as developments in bilateral Greek-Turkish relations, and is convinced that dialogue with Turkey, which will embrace all issues, is the only right way forward to bring Turkey closer to the values and objectives of the European Union. In this context, the Council wishes to underline the importance it attached to the participation of Foreign Minister Cem in the General Affairs Council luncheon on 13 September 1999. (2000/C 27 E/102) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1469/99 by Lucio Manisco (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (1 September 1999) Subject: Death sentence passed on the Kurdish leader Öçalan In view of the farcical trial and the resulting death sentence passed on the Kurdish leader Öçalan: 1. Does the Commission not think that it should make urgent representations to the government in Ankara, so that it can be announced in Parliament that the death sentence has with immediate effect been commuted to imprisonment? 2. Does the Commission not think that it should make an official announcement to the effect that the death sentence in question constitutes the Turkish Governmentís umpteenth violation of human rights and the basic principles of international law? 3. Does the Commission not therefore think that, in the meantime, it should: (a) suspend all trade preference agreements (both customs agreements and others) between the European Union and Turkey? (b) suspend the current negotiations on Turkeyís accession to the European Union? (c) ban all arms trading between Turkey and the EU Member States? Answer given by Mr van den Broek on behalf of the Commission (16 September 1999) The death sentence passed on the leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Öçalan, on 29 June by the Court of State Security in Ankara provoked reactions from many quarters in the Union, including the Presidency which called on Turkey not to carry it out. Similar views were expressed on the Commissionís behalf by the Member of the Commission responsible who invited the Turkish authorities to take account of the EUís opposition to the death penalty. It should be borne in mind that capital punishment has not been exercised once in Turkey since 1984 and that a draft Criminal Code is currently before the Turkish Parliament providing for its abolition. If the sentence on Mr Öçalan were to be carried out, this would clearly nullify all Turkeyís efforts to put an end to the death penalty. The Commission does not consider that the possibility of retaliatory measures against Turkey, as suggested by the honourable Member of Parliament, need be examined at this stage. It is monitoring the action to be taken on the Court of State Securityís decision closely and can confirm that the Turkish authorities concerned will take the EUís position into account. Turkey is included in the enlargement process and has been the subject of a regular annual report on its progress towards accession since the Cardiff European Council in June 1998. The Commission is due to present its next report by the end of the year and will take due account of developments in the Öçalan case