Can Turkey correct human rights record with new justice reform strategy?
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has just announced a comprehensive judicial reform program, but will it be enough to solve the country's deepening human rights problems?
The Turkish Ministry of Justice released its "Judicial Reform Strategy" document on May 30. Minister of Justice Abdulhamit Gul said the report took a full year to prepare and that over 20,000 people were consulted. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested that the reform strategy puts Turkey on track for compliance with the EU accession process. Yet the EU Commission's annual progress report for Turkey this year, published May 29, contained its harshest criticism of Turkey's human rights record yet.
Does the Judicial Reform Strategy have the potential to change the course of Turkey's human rights record? Can it be read as a sign of a shift in Turkey from authoritarianism to democracy? Does it mean Turkey is moving closer toward Europe or away from it?
