European Parliament Progress Report Released

The European Parliament released its 2007 report of Turkey's progress toward accession today. The report was approved in committee by the EP on Monday and expressed concern about the closure case, declaring it expected the Constitutional Court to rule in accordance with ECHR case law and the Venice criteria for banning political parties, thereby essentially throwing out the case against AKP. The report also praised efforts to reform Article 301 while strongly maintaining that this is merely a first of many steps Turkey will need to take to end restrictions on freedom of expression. Few changes were made from its earlier released draft (see March 14 post).