THE European Parliament voted overwhelmingly yesterday that Turkey is unfit to join the EU, despite its punishing pace of reforms. The motion was a blow to countries such as Britain which have been pushing for Turkey to be given the go-ahead to join.

In a heated debate, MEPs cited a long list of concerns, including torture, lack of democracy, imprisonment of political opponents, the influence of the Army, persecution of minorities including Kurds and Christians, fears that the EU would be overwhelmed by Turkish immigrants, and that Turkey’s membership would destroy the European Union.

The resolution, passed by 211 votes to 84 with 46 abstentions, said that Turkey had not yet met the political criteria needed to start membership negotiations. The resolution is not binding, but is aimed at stopping the growing bandwagon behind Turkey’s membership bid, by making it politically embarrassing for member states and the European Commission to support it. Supporters say that allowing a Muslim country to become the largest member of the EU would help resolve the “clash of civilisations” by proving that the EU is not just a “Christian club”.

Turkey, which has been conducting a feverish round of lobbying, has become openly bullish that its bid will succeed when EU leaders vote in December on the issue, which is widely seen as the most important decision the EU will make this year. However, public opinion in Europe is overwhelmingly opposed to Turkish membership, and opposition MEPs in several EU countries, including France and Germany, want to turn it into the main issue of the European elections in June.

A 33-page report on Turkey praised the reforms of its Government, but said that they simply did not go far enough and many had not been implemented.

“The character of the EU is at stake, and so is the possibility of the citizens to identify themselves with the EU as a union of values,” it concluded.

The report noted that torture still continued in Turkey, that opposition political parties were banned and opposition politicians were still in prison. “One cannot simply decree a more open approach, nor change the mentality of people from one day to the next,” the report said.

It welcomed the lifting of the ban on teaching in Kurdish, but condemned Turkish schools for “indoctrinating youths with opinions of racial hatred”, and said Christians were still persecuted.

A recent opinion poll showed that 69 per cent of Turks were “unfavourable” to Christians, and that 31 per cent supported suicide bombings against the West.

The MEPs also said that the EU was not ready for Turkey, whose population was growing so fast that it would be the most populous member of the EU by the time it joined, giving it a bigger vote on policies than any existing EU state.

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