STRASBOURG - Political groups at the Council of Europe (COE) Parliamentary Assembly during their meetings in Strasbourg on Monday approved the report that recommends closure of monitoring procedure for Turkey and a bill with this objective.
The report and bill which will be put to vote after discussion at Tuesday's general assembly meeting of the COE Parliamentary Assembly were also approved by the COE Political Affairs Commission.
During general assembly meetings in April, the vote on ''Turkey report'' was postponed to June with pretext to imprisonment of former DEP deputies.
After political groups and Political Affairs Commission expressed affirmative opinion today, sources said the report and the bill would absolutely be approved in tomorrow's general assembly session.
COE Parliamentary Assembly President Peter Schieder told a press conference the same day that the monitoring procedure for Ankara was expected to be closed, referring to latest reforms that Turkey had made.
Schieder said that they welcomed closure of State Security Courts and release of former DEP deputies.
Referring to the post monitoring, Schieder said that they were expecting Turkey to change its election system, ratify the convention on European minority languages and take necessary steps in fight against corruption and abuse of women.
Meanwhile, the reports prepared by Turkey rapporteurs and relevant draft recommendatory decisions say that Turkey made significant reforms both in human rights and democracy in the last three years, asking the COE to close the monitoring procedure.
Urging the COE to support Turkey's reform activities, the report says that such an assistance can be extended especially to training of policemen and judges and reforms about prisons.
The report says that COE can assign experts to help Turkey in new legal arrangements.
The report asks the ''Venice Commission'' which helped legal arrangements in new COE member nations to help also Turkey.
Criticizing the Turkish Constitution of 1982, the report calls on Turkey to make significant reforms in this Constitution together with the Venice Commission.
Criticizing the election system in Turkey, the report asks Turkey to decrease the barrier below 10 percent.
Regarding the military service, the report asks Turkey to offer ''rejection of conscience'' or ''alternative service'' options.
In its report, the COE Parliamentary Assembly asks Turkey to make necessary reforms in labor unions, political parties, assembly right and local administrations. It also requests start of ''post monitoring'' procedure for Turkey. In this procedure, there is no need for preparing reports and holding debates on the relevant country at the general assembly.
The monitoring procedure is generally imposed on new COE member countries to see whether they fulfil commitments before membership.
Ankara harshly reacted to start of this procedure for Turkey in 1996 with the pretext of existence of problems in democratization and continuation of human rights violations in COE founding member Turkey.
Closure of monitoring procedure is also important for start of entry talks between Ankara and the EU. EU officials stress that opening of accession talks with a country under COE's monitoring is very difficult.
The European Commission for Democracy through Law of the COE, better known as the Venice Commission, was established just after the fall of the Berlin Wall, in 1990, and has played a leading role in the adoption, in eastern Europe, of constitutions that conform to the standards of Europe's constitutional heritage. The Commission keeps a close watch on the changes that constantly affect society and are reflected in its fundamental, that is its constitutional, rules.
(MS-AÖ) 21.06.2004