Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

With respect to the Senator, if he bears with me he will see there is relevance. One of the key issues in respect of the EU enlargement negotiations with Turkey is to ensure legitimate anti-terrorism and security measures are not used to undermine full respect for human rights and the fundamental freedoms as set out in the European Convention on Human Rights. As Senator Norris well knows, this is a specific part of the Copenhagen criteria which the EU applies. Any state looking for membership must meet it and the Turkish authorities know that full well.

In this regard, the number of cases taken against political parties in Turkey is of concern to the EU and to Ireland, and this issue has been raised regularly by the EU in the context of enlargement negotiations with Turkey. The progress report on Turkey prepared by the European Commission issued in November 2008 noted that "the current legal provisions applicable to political parties do not provide political actors with an adequate level of protection from the state's interference in their freedom of association and freedom of expression". In addition, the report stated that "the legal provisions on political parties need to be amended and brought into line with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and best practice in EU member states". Ireland fully supports the recommendations set out by the Commission in this report.

In March 2009, the European Commission for Democracy through Law of the Council of Europe, also known as the Venice Commission, presented an opinion to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly on the dissolution of political parties in Turkey. This report has been welcomed by the Turkish Government which is undertaking political and legal consultations to adopt its recommendations and bring Turkey fully into line with the European Convention on Human Rights.

We welcome that Turkey has made some progress in recent years in adopting wide-ranging political and legal reforms. Important legislative measures on human rights have been introduced and enacted aimed at strengthening the enforcement of human rights and protecting the cultural rights of all citizens, including those of Kurdish origin.

Reforms have seen the first Kurdish language classes begin in private schools and some programmes in the Kurdish language have been broadcast on state television and radio channels. At the 47th meeting of the EC-Turkey Association Council held in Brussels on 19 May 2009, the EU welcomed the launch of television and radio broadcasting in Kurdish nationwide 24 hours a day. In addition, the EU encourages Turkey to take further measures to enhance cultural rights in practice and lift remaining restrictions, especially in respect of the use of languages other than Turkish in local broadcasting and political life and when accessing public services. The EU also urges Turkey, in line with best practice in member states, to adopt appropriate measures to ensure cultural diversity and promote respect for and protection of minorities in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights and with the principles laid down in the framework convention for the protection of national minorities. We continue to urge the Turkish Government to resolve any of the outstanding issues that relate to minority rights, including those that relate to Kurdish identity, and in co-operation with our EU partners we will closely monitor developments in the region through our embassy in Ankara.

I return to the matter of the Senator's intervention. Nothing in this reply is in any way intended to pre-judge the position of this man or to suggest that anything other than due process must be applied properly in his case.