06 12 01 - THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION RECOMMENDS WEAK RESPONSE TO TURKEY FAILURES

-- The Commission suggests only half-measures, consisting in temporary suspension of technical chapters of the negotiation process --

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - The European Commission recommended on Wednesday 29th November the suspension of 8 of the 35 tracks, or chapters, of Turkey's negotiation process toward joining the European Union.
Moreover, the Commission recommended that no already opened chapter "beprovisionally closed".

The eight tracks suspended by the Commission are largely technical in nature. The Commission refrained from suspending the remaining 27 tracks.
In taking these steps, the Commission alleges to give an appropriate response to Turkey's intransigence - particularly its refusal to ratify the Ankara protocol which would have meant the implicit recognition of Cyprus.
As a consequence, the suspended chapters are those which are linked to some extent to Cyprus issues: freedom of movement of goods (§1), rightof establishment and freedom to provide
services (§3), financial
services (§9), agriculture and rural development (§11), fisheries (§13),
transport (§14), customs union (§29) and external relations (§30).

"The Commission has fallen far short of its obligations to enforce Turkey's compliance or to punish its flagrant violation of its own commitments across a broad range of issues. Europeans expect the Commission to act in a more principled and responsible manners on this core matter concerning the future of the Union," said the Chairperson of the European Armenian Federation, Mrs Hilda Tchoboian.

The European Armenian Federation considers these half-measures a clear retreat from the Council's own decision in December of 2004, which firmly established the terms of the negotiation framework.
This understanding stipulated that, in case of serious and persistent violation of the principles on which the Union is based, the Commission must fully suspend its negotiations with Turkey.

Seeking to explain its decision, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement declared that "we have agreed that these negotiations have to move forward at a less rapid pace. There will be no train wreck, but there is
a clear slowing down of the process."

"European civil society does not understand why the Commission keeps on acting as the hostage of Ankara's demands for double standards and special treatment.
Far from demanding Turkey's compliance, the Commission is actively ignoring the recent European Parliament
resolution regarding the conditions for the suspension of talks with Turkey," said Tchoboian. "As such, we call on Member States to recognize the Commissions moral failure and to enact measures of their own accord to ensure that the values and the standards of the Union are respected."

EUROPEAN ARMENIAN FEDERATION
for Justice and Democracy
Avenue de la Renaissance 10
B-1000 Bruxelles
Tel: +322 732 70 26
Tel/Fax: +322 732 70 27
Email: contact@eafjd.org

V.V