STRASBOURG, Nov 13: The European Union said on Tuesday that Turkey had still not met the political and economic conditions for joining 12 other countries in membership talks.

“Though it is beginning to make progress in some areas, Turkey does not yet meet the Copenhagen political criteria,” the European Commission said in an annual progress report on Turkey’s membership preparations, referring to the political conditions it has set for would-be members.

It “is therefore encouraged to intensify and accelerate...reform to ensure that human rights and fundamental freedoms are fully protected...” it said.

Turkey, a strategically-placed NATO member straddling Europe and Asia, gained its coveted candidacy of the western EU bloc at the EU’s Helsinki summit in Dec 1999.

However, it was told that it must make a series of reforms relating to democracy and human rights and help find a solution to the division of Cyprus, itself an EU candidate, before it is allowed to join 12 other countries in membership talks.

The EU executive said that constitutional amendments adopted by the Turkish Parliament last month were “a significant step towards strengthening guarantees in the field of human rights and fundamental freedoms and limiting capital punishment”.

However it stressed that the reforms did not go far enough.

“The basic features of a democratic system exist in Turkey,” it said, “but a number of fundamental issues, such as civilian control over the military, remain to be effectively addressed.

“Despite a number of constitutional, legislative and administrative changes the actual human rights situation as it affects individuals in Turkey needs improvement.”

In a further snub to Turkey, the EU report also cited concerns over Turkey’s crisis-battered economy.

“Confronted with two financial crises, Turkey has been unable to make further progress towards achieving a functioning market economy,” the report said.

Turkey has been labouring under a crushing economic crisis since February when a banking sector crisis forced the government to abandon a pegged exchange regime.

The move led to the lira losing more than half of its value against the dollar, steep inflation, business closures, and thousands of job losses.

The fall-out from the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US has taken its toll too, forcing Turkey to seek even more aid from such institutions as the World Bank.

The dual financial setbacks, said the report, “brought to a halt economic recovery and put an end to the preceding economic stablization program. Macroeconomic stability has been shaken, and many macroeconomic imbalances have reappeared.—AFP