The European Union sought today to defuse a looming crisis with Turkey over Cyprus and lagging reforms, welcoming a pledge to amend a key law on freedom of expression in line with EU standards.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan announced the policy shift on Sunday, three days before a European Commission report expected to sharply criticise Turkey, saying he was ready to change a law used to prosecute writers for "insulting Turkishness".
"The stated intention by Prime Minister (Tayyip) Erdogan to bring Turkish legislation on freedom of expression into line with European standards is a welcome initiative," EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said in a statement. "It shows that the Turkish prime minister is personally committed to free speech and EU accession," Mr Rehn said.
The EU executive is to issue a progress report on Wednesday criticising a slowdown in reforms in the year since Turkey began EU membership talks and noting Ankara's failure to meet a requirement to open its ports to shipping from Cyprus. Diplomats say the negative findings could prompt EU leaders to suspend, at least partially, accession negotiations with Turkey when they hold a summit on enlargement in mid-December.
But German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whose country takes over the EU's rotating presidency in January, warned against any premature move to break off the talks. "I would strongly urge that in our interests and in the interests of Turkey, we should not be overly hasty in our conclusions. We ought to leave scope ... for a political compromise between Turkish interests and the interests of the Cypriots," he told a conference of the Party of European Socialists in Berlin.