BRUSSELS - EU Commissioner for enlargement Olli Rehn said on Tuesday that the existence of a neutral, independent, reliable and a transparent judiciary in Turkey was indispensable.
Speaking after the meeting of the association council between Turkey and the EU in Brussels, Rehn said that the smooth progress of EU-Turkey membership negotiations was based on the Turkey`s ability to adopt and fulfil the reforms.
Rehn expressed his pleasure over Turkey`s adoption of Law on Foundations and amending article 301 of Turkish Penal Code. He also asked Turkey to revise other articles that limited freedom of expression.
Rehn said that Turkey should focus on a juridical reform.
Current EU president Slovenia`s FM Dimitrij Rupel, on his part, said that Turkey recorded a significant progress on EU membership path, and wished reforms to be pursued.
Rupel said that the EU paid attention to Turkey`s role in international politics and cited Turkey`s facilitator role in Israeli-Syrian talks as an example.
Rupel said that Turkey was one of the most important allies and partners of the EU; and it would be one of the most important members of the Community after this process was completed.
(GC-ULG)