2010 ilerleme raporu - Avrupa Birliği Bakanlığı

The investigation begun in 2009 into the charity association Deniz Feneri concerning a fraud
case in Germany is continuing. The police made searches on the premises of the association
and at the homes of the suspects. However, no indictment has been submitted to court yet.
The draft law on the Turkish Court of Auditors, which envisages strengthening the Court and
extending its mandate, was adopted by the Planning and Budget Committee of the Parliament
in May and is awaiting approval by the plenary. (See Chapter 23 - Judiciary and fundamental
rights)
Overall, progress has been made as regards the development of a comprehensive anticorruption
strategy and action plan and of a body to oversee and monitor its implementation,
thus addressing Accession Partnership priorities. However, effective implementation of the
strategy is necessary to reduce corruption which remains prevalent in many areas. Turkey
needs to develop a track record of investigations, indictments, and convictions.
2.2. Human rights and the protection of minorities
Observance of international human rights law
As for ratification of human rights instruments, ratification of the Optional Protocol to the UN
Convention against Torture (OPCAT) is still pending before parliament. Turkey has not
ratified three additional Protocols to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) 9 .
The number of rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) finding that Turkey
has violated the ECHR continued to increase. During the reporting period the court delivered
a total of 553 judgements finding that Turkey had violated the ECHR. The number of new
applications to the ECtHR went up for the fourth consecutive year. Since October 2009, a
total of 5,728 new applications were made to the ECtHR. The majority of them concern the
right to a fair trial and protection of property rights. As of September 2010, 16,093 cases were
pending before the ECtHR regarding Turkey. The amendment to the Constitution introducing
the right to submit individual applications to the Constitutional Court is an important step to
reduce the number of applications to the ECtHR.
Turkey has abided by the majority of ECtHR rulings, including payment of compensation
totalling €6.1 million in 2009. Amendments to the Law on enforcement of judgments address
shortcomings in the judicial process that were identified in several ECtHR rulings against
Turkey. However, some rulings have not been followed up by Turkey for several years 10 . The
government’s announcement that it would address these issues was not followed by action.
In the Cyprus v. Turkey case, the issue of missing persons and restrictions on the property
rights of Greek Cypriots living permanently in the northern part of Cyprus remains pending.
At a meeting in September 2010, the Committee of Ministers decided to postpone
examination of these issues until December 2010. In its Grand Chamber Decision of 5 March
9
10
Protocols 4, 7 and 12.
The non-implementation of the Hulki Güneş, Göçmen and Söylemez judgments has resulted in
deprivation of liberty for the defendants for several years without due process of law. A legislative
amendment is required to remedy this situation. Furthermore, Turkey has not adopted legal measures to
prevent repetitive prosecution and conviction of conscientious objectors. Other issues awaiting
legislative measures by Turkey concern control of the activities of security forces, effective remedies
against abuse, restrictions on freedom of expression and excessive length of pre-trial detention.
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