German MEPs’ fury over Turkish court’s espionage charges

Date: 31/10/02

By Karen Carstens

MEPS have expressed outrage after a Turkish court accused five German foundations with offices in the country of espionage and 'clandestine activities to undermine the Turkish state'.

Elmar Brok, chairman of the Parliament's foreign affairs committee, said: 'The accusations against the German political foundations are an accusation against the EU itself.'

That view was echoed by Hartmut Nassauer, chairman of Germany's Christian Democratic group in the Parliament: 'This is the kind of behaviour that reminds me of the old way of doing things in the Eastern Bloc.

'Ankara has once again demonstrated that Turkey is far from fulfilling all the criteria for joining the EU,' he added. 'The accusation that these foundations want to endanger the unity of the country are absurd and grotesque. There is not a single shred of evidence to support them.'

Both MEPs said German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder had been wrong to push recently for a date for the Union to start membership talks with Turkey. Brok also criticised the United States for putting pressure on the EU over the issue, adding that Schröder 'will only make a fool of himself' if he continued to support the US on this.

The five foundations, which all support Turkey's accession to the EU, are: Konrad Adenauer, Friedrich Ebert, Friedrich Naumann, Heinrich Böll and the German Orient Institute.

The prosecuting attorney in the case has reportedly requested eight- to ten-year jail sentences for 15 members of the foundations. They are accused of forging a 'secret alliance' with local groups to undermine Turkey's political and social order. Such 'groups' could, for example, include Kurdish leaders invited to speak at debates hosted by one or more of the foundations.

Germany's ambassador in the Turkish capital, Rudolf Schmidt, dismissed the accusations as 'groundless'.

Wulf Schönbohm, director of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said they were 'totally ludicrous' and represented a 'legal scandal'.

His counterpart at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Hans Schumacher, said they were part of an anti-EU and anti-democracy campaign promoted by certain circles in Turkey. The foundations had fallen victim to this campaign because they had pushed for democratic reforms in the Islamic country.

'This is a tragedy,' said Faruk Sen, director of the Centre for Turkish Studies at the University of Essen. 'These foundations have tirelessly worked to promote German-Turkish dialogue and the entry of Turkey into the EU.'

'To misinterpret these activities as a threat to national security is a huge mistake that does not correspond with Turkey's request for a place in Europe.'

Some 2.6 million Turks live in Germany, the EU's biggest member state. Many arrived in the 1960s and '70s as 'guest workers' at the invitation of the government and ended up staying on to become the country's largest minority group. Today, third-generation Turks in Germany often feel more at home in Berlin, Frankfurt or Cologne than they do in Ankara, Istanbul or Izmir.

Germany is Turkey's biggest export partner, followed by the US, the UK and Italy.

MEPs have expressed outrage after a Turkish court accused five German foundations with offices in the country of espionage and 'clandestine activities to undermine the Turkish state'.