Pace of Turkey's reforms slowing down, EU progress report says

BRUSSELS, Belgium: The European Union will urge Turkey on Tuesday to press ahead with reforms crucial for its bid to join the bloc, singling out freedom of expression, democratic oversight of the military and rights for Kurds as key areas where more progress is needed.
In an annual report on the progress in Turkey's membership bid, the EU's executive Commission will also repeat that Ankara must normalize its relations with Cyprus and honor a 2005 pact to open its ports and airports to the island republic.
The pace of reforms "has slowed down" since Turkey's membership negotiations opened two years ago, and "significant further efforts are needed" in the crucial areas, said a draft of the report seen by The Associated Press.
The talks stalled last year when the EU froze negotiations on eight out of 35 policy areas, because of Turkey's refusal to open its ports to trade with Cyprus, an EU member since 2004. But EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn said last month that negotiations in two new areas could be opened "in the coming weeks."
On Tuesday, Rehn planned also to present reports on the efforts of six Balkan nations to join the EU.
The draft report on Turkey commends the country's government on solving a constitutional crisis earlier this year, but says the military — which has vowed to safeguard Turkish secularism — still exerts "significant political influence." The draft report calls for a better civilian oversight of the armed forces.
Abdulah Gul, a former foreign minister in Turkey's Islamic-oriented government, was elected president in July after months of confrontation with the secular establishment, with the military threatening to intervene when Gul was first nominated for the post.
The draft report says serious concerns remain over freedom of speech restrictions, particularly Article 301 of the Turkish penal code that make it a crime to insult Turkish identity or the country's institutions.
Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk and slain ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink are among those who have been prosecuted under the controversial article.
The report also mentions the need to improve religious and cultural rights for non-Muslims, but it lauds Turkey's economic reforms.
The 27-nation EU is divided over whether Turkey, a mainly Muslim country of 71 million, should one day join the EU. The prospect faces opposition from some member states, such as France or Austria, and the accession talks are expected to last at least a decade.
Turkey is under intense pressure from the EU to allow Greek Cypriot planes and vessels to use Turkish ports and airports, but Ankara has said it would not agree to any concessions on Cyprus until the EU keeps to a promise to end the isolation of Turkish Cypriots.
Cyprus has been divided between a Greek Cypriot south and a Turkish-occupied north since 1974, when Turkey invaded after an abortive Athens-backed coup by supporters of union with Greece
The European Parliament said last month that Turkey's refusal to comply with the commitments made when it opened its accession talks with the EU would seriously affect the negotiations.