say the Independent Commission a ptivate group of distinguished European policymakers have formed an independent Commission to examine the challenges and opportunities presented by Turkey's possible membership in the European Union.
Η «Ανεξάρτητη Επιτροπή», υποστηρίζεται από το Βρετανικό Συμβούλιο και το «Ίδρυμα Ανοιχτής Κοινωνίας» του Αμερικανού χρηματιστή Τζορτζ Σόρος. Συγκροτήθηκε το 2004 και υποστηρίζει αναφανδόν την τουρκική ένταξη στην Ένωση...
Αφυπνίζεται το φιλοτουρκικό λόμπι…
The Commission is private and made up of former heads of state and government, foreign ministers and European commissioners, and other Europeans who have previously held high positions in public office and like to working only for american worldposition .
Martti Ahtisaari is the chairman of the Commission.
Albert Rohan is rapporteur.
The British Council is supporting the Independent Commission
in partnership with the Open Society Foundation–Turkey.
Members of the Independent Commission
BiographiesMartti Ahtisaari (Finland)
Former President of Finland, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2008
Martti Ahtisaari was elected president of Finland in 1994. Upon leaving office in 2000, he founded the Crisis Management Initiative. A UN diplomat and mediator, Ahtisaari is noted for his international peace work in Namibia, Indonesia, Iraq, Central Asia, Kosovo, and Northern Ireland, among other areas. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2008 "for his important efforts to resolve international conflicts."
Kurt Hans Biedenkopf (Germany)
Former Prime Minister of Saxony, Germany
Prof. Dr. Kurt Hans Biedenkopf was prime minister of Saxony, Germany, from 1990 until 2002. He began his political career as secretary general of the Christian Democratic Union in 1973. From 1977 to 1983 he was a deputy chairman of the party. Between 1976-1980 and 1987-1990 he was a member of the Bundestag (federal parliament of Germany). After Germany’s re-unification in 1990 Biedenkopf was elected prime minister in the newly formed state of Saxony. His party also won the subsequent elections in 1994 and 1999 with an absolute majority. He held his office until April 2002.
Bronislaw Geremek (In Memoriam) (Poland)
Former Foreign Minister of Poland
Former foreign minister of Poland and member of the European Parliament, Geremek was a crucial figure in the fight to end Communist rule in Poland. Geremek led the roundtable negotiations that helped pave the way for elections in 1989, eventually helping to bring the Solidarity movement to power and a peaceful end to Communist rule in Poland. As foreign minister between 1997 and 2000 Geremek played a role in Poland’s negotiations to join the European Union and also signed the documents that formally marked Poland's entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Anthony Giddens (United Kingdom)
Former Director, London School of Economics and Political Science
Anthony Giddens is a member of the House of Lords, a Fellow of King’s College Cambridge, and Emeritus Professor at the London School of Economics, where he also served as its director from 1997 to 2003. His many books include The Constitution of Society (1984), Beyond Left and Right (1994), The Third Way (1998), and Europe in the Global Age (2006). His most recent major work is The Politics of Climate Change (2009). His books have been translated into more than forty languages.
Emma Bonino (Italy)
Vice President of the Senate; Former European Commissioner
Emma Bonino is the vice president of the senate and was minister for international trade and European affairs. First elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in 1976 with the Radical Party, she has since served either in the Italian or in the European Parliament continuously, except when she held the post of European Commissioner for humanitarian aid, fisheries, and consumer policy (1995-1999). In 1996, she was nominated “European personality of the year” by a jury chaired by Jacques Delors, and awarded the prestigious “Prince of Asturias” prize two years later. She was visiting professor at the American University of Cairo and a board member of the International Crisis Group. She has served as chief observer of the EU electoral missions in Ecuador (2002) and Afghanistan (2005), and conducted several successful international campaigns to promote human—and in particular women’s—rights.
Marcelino Oreja Aguirre (Spain)
Former Foreign Minister of Spain, Secretary-General of the Council of Europe and European Commissioner
Spanish politician and businessman Marcelino Oreja Aguirre served as minister of foreign affairs (1976-1980), secretary-general of the Council of Europe (1984-1989), and a European commissioner (1994-1999). As foreign minister, he signed the Declaration of Human Rights at the United Nations and was responsible for Spanish entry into the Council of Europe in Strasbourg and the establishment of diplomatic relations with the USSR, Vietnam, and Mozambique. Oreja also served as European commissioner for institutional relations, culture and the audiovisual sector.
Hans van den Broek (Holland)
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Holland; Former European Commissioner
Hans van den Broek was minister of foreign affairs of the Netherlands from 1982 to 1993 after having previously served as state secretary for European affairs and as member of the Dutch Parliament. From 1993 to 1999 Van den Broek was member of the Commission of the European Union with responsibilities for enlargement and external relations with Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Turkey, Russia and the Newly Independent States, Cyprus, and Malta. As commissioner he was also associated with EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy. In February 2005 Van den Broek was nominated minister of state for life.
Albert Rohan (Austria) (Rapporteur)
Former Secretary-General for Foreign Affairs
After receiving his doctor of law in 1960 at the University of Graz, Albert Rohan joined the Austrian Diplomatic Service in 1963. He was appointed to the Austrian Embassies in Belgrade and London, and from 1977 to1981 served as Director of the Executive Office of the UN Secretary General in New York. From 1985 to 1989 Albert Rohan was Austrian Ambassador to Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. In 1995 he was appointed as Secretary-General for Foreign Affairs of Austria and remained in this position until 2001. Following his retirement from the Diplomatic Service, Rohan worked as lecturer and political commentator for radio, television and print media. From 2005 to 2008 he acted as Deputy Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General for the Kosovo Status Process. Since 2004 he has served as the Rapporteur of the Independent Commission on Turkey. Rohan is founding member of the European Council on Foreign Relations, President of the Austrian-American Society and Vice-President of the European Policy Association of Austria. In 2002 he published the book “Diplomat on the Fringes of World Politics”.
Michel Rocard (France)
Former Prime Minister of France
Michel Rocard served as prime minister of France under Francois Mitterrand from 1988 to 1991. During his tenure he helped create the Revenu minimum d'insertion (RMI), a social minimum welfare program for homeless people. Rocard also led the negotiations for the Matignon Accords regarding the status of New Caledonia. Between 1994 and January 2009 he served as a member of the European Parliament for the Parti Socialiste. Rocard currently serves as ambassador of the polar regions for France.
7 September 2009
Turkey in Europe: Breaking the Vicious Circle, the second report of the Independent Commission on Turkey, analyzes the key developments in EU-Turkey relations and puts forward concrete steps necessary to revive negotiations.
The Independent Commission on Turkey is convinced of the huge benefits of Turkish convergence with Europe and an eventual EU membership of a transformed Turkey, both for the country itself and the European Union. Despite a promising start to negotiations in 2004, the process has developed a vicious circle: continued negative comments by European political leaders, combined with growing public hesitation about further EU enlargement, have deepened resentment in Turkey and slowed the necessary reforms.
The report argues that this vicious circle must urgently be broken, in the interest of both Turkey and the EU. European governments must honor their commitments and treat Turkey with fairness and the respect it deserves. On its side, Turkey has to re-engage in a dynamic, broad-based reform process, thus confirming that it is willing and serious in its ambition to join the EU.
Οδηγία για αποχώρηση της ΟΥΝΦΙΚΥΠ από Κύπρο
View the corresponding press release, read report chapter highlights, or read more information on the topic.
Download Turkey in Europe: Breaking the Vicious Circle (PDF, 826K)
The report is also available in the following languages:
French (PDF, 814K)German (PDF, 825K)
Italian (PDF, 811K)
Turkish (PDF, 1200K)
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