Membership in the European Union (EU) is a prestigious honor, especially for a country like Turkey. "We Ask For Democracy And Human Rights Without Oppression And Without Killing," (Kurdish Leader, Mehdi Zana). Now when you hearing something like that, do you feel that a country like Turkey has freedom? Does freedom not mean to have the right to do as you please without oppression? People who know what freedom is will know that a country like Turkey does not meet "international and European conventions" of democracy and human rights. A country with a history of human rights violations is not a country that needs to be considered for EU membership. One needs to just look at Turkey and the inhumane treatment of it's citizens to get a sense of how the country is governed, and how easily it has manipulated the world into believing that democracy exists within the country.

Especially now more than ever, we hear about human rights violations in Turkey. Everyday, new stories are uncovered about Turkey's so-called "democracy." The world thinks that Turkey will be joining the EU due to the fact that its people, and everyone else who lives there, have absolute freedom of speech and other basic rights like the ones we hold in the United States (freedom of speech and press). Well, that is far from the truth. People living in Turkey are the only ones who know the truth behind their "democratic country." Turkey, for decades, has denied minorities like the Kurds their identity and their right to freedom of speech. Freedom of expression constitutes the right to freedom of speech. However, in a country like Turkey, freedom of expression is still highly restricted. Even though many believe that Turkey is making progress with democratic reform, it has yet to meet the standards of Amnesty International Law No. 4744 ("Mini-Democracy Package"). Amnesty International stated, "The practice of torture remains widespread and systematic in Turkey," and "Law No. 4744 failed to fully combat two of the major factors contributing to this heinous practice." The laws handed down to Turkish officials were not taken with eagerness. Instead, Turkey decided to adjust just "some" Turkish laws. Where is adjustment of all laws? Why is Turkey allowed to make partial changes to their Constitutional amendments in order to join the European Union?

Turkey is not abiding by the laws of the European Union protocol. So why even give them a chance? In Turkey, if you express your opinion about issues regarding separatism or any ethnical issues, then you can be imprisoned and tortured. In 2001, Fikret Baskaya was imprisoned for writing an article on the Kurdish issue. Under the Turkish law in Article 8, a person has 48 hours to get an attorney to represent them in the trial. Within those 48 hours, in accordance to Turkish law, the Turkish integration officers have the right to torture the person withheld. Now, when you hear something like that, do you feel that a country like Turkey has freedom? Does freedom not mean having the right to an attorney without being tortured?

Freedom of the press is about being able to express yourself by any means without having to worry about government officials treating you inhumanely because they disagree with you. For decades, this has been the case with Turkey. Not even ethnic Turks can oppose governmental ideas and publish anything that the government will not view as treason. Turkey has not abided by the guidelines that were established in 1993, which requires countries aspiring to join the EU to reform their laws to ones which model the "Western-style democratic institutions guaranteeing the rule of law, individual rights, and the protection of minorities (Kurds)." ( Rouleau, 4)

Turkey aspiring to such a high prestigious honor is an unlikely reform that will be made. Turkey has no intention of allowing its people and minorities to have full freedom and democracy like the Western countries do. Turkey is not and will never be able to reform its platform to be in the European Union. Even if Turkey does make "changes" to the written laws in order to please the EU (which is not the case according to Eric Rouleau of Foreign Affairs: "Ankara (capital of Turkey) has made no moves to reform its institutions. It is true that, after abstaining for 34 years, Turkey recently signed (but has not ratified) two U.N. conventions on political rights"), don't expect and think that Turkey will ever allow democracy to rein in its country.