European Commission welcomes Turkey's third judicial reform package

BRUSSELS (A.A) - February 1, 2012 - The European Commission appreciated on Wednesday Turkey's third judicial reform package. A statement released from European Commissioner for enlargement Stefan Fule's office said that Turkey's third judicial reform package was a right step, and appreciated the initiative. The office welcomed Turkish government's will to strengthen democratic standards and lift obstacles, and eulogized the fact that the package nullified former decisions to collect several books from trade and it made it more difficult to arrest people. However, the office said, there was need for more initiatives. In its statement, the office called on Turkey to resolve problems that weakened freedom of expression, right to security and right to a fair trial. The office also highlighted importance of amendments to be made to definitions of several crimes including terrorism and membership to a terrorist organization in order to discriminate between the right to expression and inciting others to violence.  In its statement, the office said that Turkey needed to make a comprehensive reform in order not to be re-convicted by the European Court of Human Rights in freedom of expression, right to security and right to a fair trail cases.