The government has been told to focus on reforms to speed up Turkey's troubled European Union membership process. At a time when the government is preoccupied with accusations of involvement in a corruption scheme uncovered in Germany, the EU and President Abdullah Gül have both said political reforms must gain momentum and that the EU bid must again become a priority.

It is high time that Turkey update its Constitution in a way that reflects the wishes of the whole country and society, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn's spokesperson, Krisztina Nagy, said on Thursday.

Turkey must implement a comprehensive and stable political reform program, Nagy told the Anatolia news agency. She also called for judicial reform and improvements in union rights.

Turkey opened accession talks with the EU three years ago, on Oct. 3, 2005, but progress has been very slow since then. So far, talks have been opened on eight out of 35 negotiating chapters. Talks have been closed only on one of them. Nagy said the EU Commission expected more chapters to be opened in December before the EU's rotating presidency passes from France to the Czech Republic. In 2006 the commission proposed a suspension of talks on eight chapters due to Turkey's refusal to open its ports and airports to traffic from Greek Cyprus. France, which opposes Turkish membership, says it will veto talks on five chapters that it says are directly related to membership.

"It must be a priority for the entire society to make sure our accession talks with the EU will continue on a healthy basis," President Gül, who, as the then-foreign minister was one of the architects in the opening of the talks, told Parliament in a speech inaugurating Parliament's new legislative year on Wednesday. "A successful conclusion of accession talks depends on our country putting all of its energy behind this process and carrying out many reforms in a short period of time."

Turkey is not projected to become a member before 2014 due to EU budgetary constraints, but many experts predict the membership will come at an even later date given the slow progress in talks and a lack of effective focus at home on the EU process. The government denies accusations of a slowdown in reform efforts and is planning to pass a reform package as soon as deputies are fully back in Parliament in a week. The plan, called the Third National Program, is a blueprint calling for reforms in more than 100 laws to bring them in line with EU standards.

Critics say the plan is insufficient in meeting EU demands because it mostly includes cosmetic and technocratic measures instead of drastic steps aimed at a political transformation. "The Third National Program shows that the EU reform process has not been fully absorbed by Turkey. The fact that 60 percent of the reforms in the Second National Program of 2003 were never implemented is a clear indication of this," said the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV), an Ankara-based think tank, in a recent release.

TEPAV also criticized the program for not mentioning plans on how to respond to EU demands to open Turkish ports and airports to traffic from Greek Cyprus. The EU Commission is to release a regular progress report assessing Turkey's membership efforts on Nov. 5, Nagy said.

Nagy also said Turkey's road to EU accession was a long and difficult one and that the reform process was just as important as joining the EU itself. "The EU has a clear stance on Turkish membership. Turkey may become a member of the EU if it meets the necessary conditions and fulfills its duties," she also said.

Gül said steps in the direction of political reforms should be more than "changes in regulations," calling for a transformation in mentality. "In this regard, individual rights and freedoms must particularly be secured in the most extensive way possible. A democratic understanding must be clearly respected in the implementation of the law," Gül said in Parliament.

Gül also said the National Program must be given a final shape through a process that all segments of the society are involved in and be implemented immediately. Leaders of the two main opposition parties, the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), have refused to meet with Foreign Minister Ali Babacan to be briefed on the National Program, underlining political obstacles for an effective reform drive.

The president also called for a strong communication policy to eliminate prejudice held by the European public toward Turkish membership. Majorities in several European countries oppose Turkey's membership. Public support for membership in the EU is also in decline within Turkey itself.

Todays Zaman