Wyn (Verts/ALE). – Mr President, I welcome this timely report by Mr Oostlander. It contains a number of valuable recommendations.

On Monday I returned from Turkey, where, with other politicians and trade unionists, I had the opportunity to observe the local elections. Paragraph 1 of the recommendations of this report refers to the 'oft-stated commitment' by the Turkish authorities 'to democracy and Europe'. I cannot share the same confidence. Whilst seeking to observe elections in the primary school of Vali Unal Erkan in Diyarbakir, we were shouted at, threateningly, by the local chief of police and prevented from entering the polling station. This was not an isolated incident. In polling stations in other parts of the country, members of the governing Turkish party were standing by, watching ballot papers being filled in by Kurdish electors. The military were present outside many polling stations within the Kurdish area.

Speakers of the Kurdish language – spoken by 20 million people in Turkey – continue to face persecution. Kurdish-medium schools are banned, the only concession being the belated effort now to allow a few schoolrooms to be open to teach Kurdish as a foreign language for a few hours a week.

How can we then say, in paragraph 8, that we have confidence that the AKP government will safeguard democratic values? As the report emphasises, the prohibition of political parties such as Hadep/Dehap continues, which is why I would urge colleagues to support Amendment No 11 by Mr Lagendijk on the crucial issue of abolishing the 10% threshold for political parties. Until these fundamental matters are addressed and the Turkish Government respects our own Charter of Fundamental Rights, many of us will have grave misgivings before supporting their accession to the European Union.