Turkey-EU Association Council to convene in Brussels

BRUSSELS (A.A) - 18.04.2011 - Turkey-European Union (EU) Association Council will hold its 49th meeting in Brussels, Belgium on Tuesday.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and State Minister for EU and chief negotiator Egemen Bagis will represent Turkey in the meeting of the Association Council, the highest decision-making organ between Turkey and the union.
EU executives are expected to eulogize civilian-military relations, constitutional amendments, judicial reform, active foreign policy and economy management, but to criticize Turkey of not opening its ports and airports to Greek Cypriot vessels and planes, of not meeting expectations with its democratic initiatives, and of not raising freedom of expression standards.
The union executives are also expected to make criticisms regarding rights of religious minorities.
They are also expected to express deep concern over recent journalist arrests, seizure of a draft book, and ban on web-sites.
EU executives will present a common stance document to Turkish executives in which they have noted down Turkey's progress in civilian supervision on security forces and gave several legal arrangements as an example. These arrangements include restricting field of duty of military judges, paving the way for appeal of Supreme Military Council (YAS) decisions, and trial of military officers by civilian courts. 
The document also asks high-ranking military officers to give up making statements on issues beyond their responsibilities like some internal and external political developments.  
The common stance document defines constitutional amendments Turkey adopted on September 12, 2010 as a rightful step, and calls on Turkey to make upcoming constitutional amendments with a wide participation, dialogue and compromise. 
The document says Turkey has started to pursue a more active foreign policy and defined the country as a significant regional actor, and recommends Ankara to be in close coordination with the EU.
It says if Turkey and EU takes joint action, energy safety can be raised, regional clashes can be solved and ethnic and religious divisions can be prevented.
The document describes Turkey's 8.9 percent of growth in 2010 as impressive.
On the other hand, Turkish executives will bring up EU's disputable stance on visa procedures, and political obstacles before accession negotiations.
Turkish executives will express their disappointment that EU member states do not authorize the Commission to carry out negotiations on visa removal.
Davutoglu and Bagis will draw attention to the decisions of the European Court of Justice that Turkish citizens can travel through Europe without visa, stress EU's liability to lift visa procedures for Turkey, who is conducting accession negotiations and who is a member of the Customs Union. 
Ankara will say that the additional protocol to the Ankara Agreement regarding opening of ports is "interpreted differently", and recall that goods of 27 EU member states, including Greek Cypriot administration, enter Turkey within the scope of Customs Union however the EU has not implemented direct trade regulation regarding the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
The EU member states had decided in 2006 not to open 8 chapters in accession negotiations and suspended the conclusion of the remaining chapters in process on the grounds that Turkey failed to fulfill its responsibilities stemming from the "Additional Protocol" to the Association Agreement which stipulates Turkey to open its ports and airports to Greek Cypriot ships and planes.
Turkish ministers will express Turkey's uneasiness over slowdown of accession negotiations with political considerations and artificial obstacles.
They will tell their interlocutors in the EU that Turkey and EU can make no progress on 18 of 33 chapters due to political obstacles, and say that the EU has not behaved this way to any other country so far.