Hurriyet published an article by Sedat Ergin headlined 'Strong warning to Turkey from EU summit.' "I came across this sentence while reading Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s message issued on the 67th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “In a globalizing world, securing fundamental rights and freedoms are now beyond the internal affairs of states but have crossed national borders to become the joint target of the entire world,” the article begins.
"The prime minister, with these words, has stated that now, in our times, it should be regarded a correct and legitimate stance for countries to take up each other’s issues on fundamental rights and freedoms," the author says.
"After being reminded of this basic principle, we can proceed to evaluate the section about Turkey in the resolution text of EU presidents and prime ministers participating in the EU summit in Brussels on Dec. 13. This text was accepted by EU foreign ministers Dec. 11," the article reads. "In this document, which is expected to be approved by the leaders of the 27 countries participating in the summit, it is indeed pleasing that it emphasizes that “it is in the interest of both parties that accession negotiations regain momentum soon.” These sentences demonstrate that within the political wing of the EU the will to break the deadlock in the accession talks is strengthening."
"As a result, the EU summit announced that Turkey is losing ground in the aspect of fundamental rights and freedoms. The text defines the joint position of each of the 27 EU countries before Turkey. Now, you may read Prime Minister Erdoğan’s message on human rights day with this in mind," the author says.
Hurriyet also published an article by Murat Yetkin devoted to the Özal’s death. "Turkey’s Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK) revealed a report on Dec. 13, stating that late Turkish President Turgut Özal was not poisoned to death when he passed away on April 17, 1993. The report was based on data obtained from his body, which was exhumed upon a demand from his family after they claimed Özal might have been killed because he wanted to take some radical steps to find a solution to Turkey’s chronic Kurdish problem," the author says.
"The report said that despite traces of poison (mainly pesticides) being found in his body, the levels were far too low to kill a human being. The pro-government daily Star published a very interesting headline in an article about the report: “The end of an urban legend,” the article reads. "Why was Özal’s death an urban legend? First of all, no autopsy was carried out after he passed away; the authorities at the time claimed his family did not want it, and the family is still not 100 percent clear about it."
"Second, he had been a popular (first prime minister and then) president. But perhaps more important than those things, the year he passed away turned out to be a very bloody and controversial one as the days passed by; today, many observers of Turkish politics believe that the year 1993 marked a cursed turning point in recent history," the author writes.
