Politics dominate monitoring meeting in Turkey

ORDU - Hürriyet Daily News

EU Minister Bağış (L), Justice Minister Ergin (2nd from L), Foreign Minister Davutoğlu (2nd from R) and Interior Minister Şahin (R) pose before a Reform Group meet in Ordu. They all have amuse after Davutoğlu tells Ergin ‘Belated justice is not a justice,’ after the justice minister came late for a meeting in the Black Sea province. DHA photo

Internal politics, including judicial reform packages, dominated the 26th meeting of the Reform Monitoring Group (RMG), which was hosted in the Black Sea city of Ordu by Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin.

The planned amendments for Article 250 of the Code of Criminal Procedures, which regulates the status of the much-criticized special authority courts, would in no way harm Turkey’s struggle against terror, the minister of justice said.

 “We won’t be in an approach that would damage Turkey’s struggle against terror and also fight against coup networks and gangs,” Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin told reporters June 8 at a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and EU Minister Egemen Bağış.

Ergin declined to give details when asked if the changes to Article 250 would limit operations of special authority courts and prosecutors of “armed terror.”

Bağış said his ministry has conducted a study on the issue of abortion and could present it at the upcoming meeting of Turkish-EU joint parliamentarian commission on June 14 if the EU parliamentarians take it to the agenda. He underlined that EU countries do not have a common legislation on the issue, which is a hot debate even in many EU countries, including Italy.

Ministry of justice officials, who would be assigned to Turkey’s embassies as ‘justice attache’ would receive training at the foreign ministry and travel to various capital cities after July, Ergin said.
Elaborating on the agenda of the RMG meeting, Şahin said that Turkey would accelerate steps in the process of compliance with the European Union for integrated border management.