Emma Bonino, on behalf of the ALDE Group. – (IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, whenever we talk about Turkey the debate, of course, becomes political straight away, regardless of the more or less legal reason for the debate, as is happening now.

All the groups have signed an important compromise document together, putting forward a united position, but we have also sacrificed a number of points of correctness for the sake of this unity.

In my view, the document is extremely harsh in the demands it makes on Turkey, and such an approach does not even encourage the Greek Cypriots to be more flexible or for them too to seek a solution to this situation, for which they are largely responsible. We must not forget who rejected the referendum; we must not forget the reasons why we are in this situation. I am saying this just to show how things stand.

A country that was about to join prevented a European Union Commissioner from speaking on state television, and that Commissioner has said that the Greek Cypriot authorities betrayed his trust and went back on their word. I am saying this because we are not doing even our Cypriot friends a favour if we do not demand that they too show a sense of responsibility regarding this situation.

Lastly, for those who, like us, have belief and hope in a political Europe as a political, economic and moral force, it is clearly a surprise that we ourselves are not delighted at the success that our gentle European influence is having in Turkey. Perhaps we ourselves do not realise that a number of taboos have recently been broken. Armenia is being discussed in Turkey and it is being discussed with the support of the government: in spite of everything, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister have supported opening this debate. The Kurdish taboo has also been broken: one need only recall the Prime Minister’s recent speech on the mistakes made in that area and the fact that they have accepted responsibility for the Diyarbakir intervention. These are successes achieved by political Europe, by our capacity for encouraging open, more respectful, democratic structures and systems.

It is true that we are entitled to be critical, but we are not entitled to be cynical; the early death of the European Constitution on the electoral scaffolds of France and the Netherlands has left the continent without an ideal border for its maturity, leading to a build-up of resentments and cynicism, which do not constitute a policy.

That is not the way to do politics; that is not the way to create a federalist, liberal policy for the Europe that we want: one that encourages freedom, the rule of law and democracy.

(Applause)