FRANCE:A EUROPEAN Parliament committee last night approved a draft report urging Turkey to speed up reforms if it wanted to join the EU.
The strongly-worded draft report also expresses concern at court action taken by Turkey's chief prosecutor against the nation's ruling party.
After last night's vote the report is all but assured of approval when it is put to a final vote by the parliament in May.
An evening session of the parliament's committee on foreign affairs in Strasbourg "expressed concern" about attempts to ban the ruling AKP party, and said that it expected Turkey's constitutional court to respect principles of the rule of law and European guidelines which prohibit the banning of mainstream political parties.
Turkey's chief prosecutor has attempted to shut down the AKP and bar prime minister Tayyip Erdogan from politics for alleged Islamist subversion.
The report also called on the government to "respect pluralism and diversity in a secular and democratic Turkey".
The report, prepared by Dutch rapporteur Ria Oomen-Ruijten, took Turkey to task for failing to carry out reforms to its penal code and "deplores the fact that no progress has been achieved regarding freedom of expression". The notorious article 301 of Turkey's penal code has been used to prosecute intellectuals for speaking out against the authorities. Nobel literature laureate Orhan Pamuk is among those who have been prosecuted.
The draft report said that reform to the code is essential "without delay so that none of these articles can be used for arbitrary restriction of freedom of expression any more".
Ms Oomen-Ruitjen said last night that those who drafted the report "have been open-minded, but we have been tough where we had to be tough in criticising Turkey".
The report makes it clear that further reform is necessary in Turkey if it wants to be accepted into the EU. Modernisation is "first and foremost in Turkey's own interest", and the nation must stand by commitments that are "vital for Turkey and its future relations with the EU".