{"id":30,"date":"2019-10-28T16:32:59","date_gmt":"2019-10-28T15:32:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eutcc.net\/?page_id=30"},"modified":"2019-11-21T22:59:48","modified_gmt":"2019-11-21T21:59:48","slug":"about-us-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/eutcc.net\/?page_id=30","title":{"rendered":"About us"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The EUTCC was established in November 2004 as the outcome of the first international conference\non <strong>\u2018The EU, Turkey and the Kurds\u2019<\/strong>. The following organizations decided to establish the EU Turkey Civic\nCommission (EUTCC):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Rafto Foundation (Norway)<\/li><li>Kurdish Human Rights Project (United Kingdom\/UK)<\/li><li>Medico International (Germany)<\/li><li>Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (UK).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The aim of the EUTCC is to\ncontribute to the progress of Turkish membership of the EU. It does this by\nspreading accurate, objective information both in Turkey and Europe about the\nprogress made by Turkey, but also about any shortcomings which may still\npersist. One of its most important tasks is to monitor Turkish compliance with\nthe EU accession criteria. It organizes every year a conference in Brussels on \u201cThe\nEU, Turkey and the Kurds\u201d. The EUTCC is registered in Belgium as a non-profit organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The EUTCC supports Turkey\u2019s bid for\nEU accession, but only in so far as it meets the conditions for membership as\ndefined by the accession agreements. In particular, it must demonstrate that it\nhas achieved the condition of \u201cstability of institutions guaranteeing democracy,\nthe rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities\u201d as\nrequired by the EU\u2019s Copenhagen Criteria for membership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus the EUTCC seeks to ensure that\nthe accession process is used to achieve respect for human and minority rights\nin Turkey, as well as a peaceful, just and democratic solution to the Kurdish\nsituation. It monitors the European Commission\u2019s performance in ensuring\nTurkey\u2019s full compliance with the accession criteria, as defined within the\nmeaning of the accession agreements, and conducts regular audits to that end.\nIt disseminates accurate and objective information to EU institutions, other\ngovernmental and non-governmental organizations and to the public in Turkey and\nthe EU in order to bring attention both to the progress Turkey has made and the\nshortcomings that persist. It also seeks to play a positive role in the\nnegotiation process by making recommendations and acting as a point of contact\nfor the parties involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The EU-Turkey Civic Commission\n(EUTCC), annually held at the European Parliament in Brussels (Belgium), is\nhosted by the founding members, and supported by members of the European\nParliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since 2004 the EUTCC has\nheld an annual conference in the European Parliament. One of its most important\ntasks is to monitor Turkish compliance with the EU accession criteria. EUTCC\nwishes to contribute to the progress of Turkish membership of the EU by\nspreading accurate, objective information both in Turkey and Europe about the\nprogress made by Turkey, but also about any shortcomings which may still\npersist.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By these conferences the EUTCC also wishes to contribute to a democratic, peaceful and lasting solution of the Kurdish problem. It believes that this can only be achieved through a dialogue between the parties concerned, in which also the EU must play its part. This will require not only further changes in legislation, but a change in the ideology and mentality at all levels of Turkish society. From a state seeing the expression of Kurdish culture and language as a threat to its own existence, Turkey must become a state that recognizes differences and sees cultural diversity and freedom as positive and necessary elements of a true democracy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our conferences bring together internationally recognized speakers from various disciplines and fields who together with the EUTCC patrons; Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Dr. Shirin Ebadi, Bianca Jagger, Noam Chomsky, Yasar Kemal and Leyla Zana in different ways express their request for real changes in Turkey.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(&#8230;)<br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The EUTCC was established in November 2004 as the outcome of the first international conference on \u2018The EU, Turkey and the Kurds\u2019. The following organizations decided to establish the EU Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC): Rafto Foundation (Norway) Kurdish Human Rights&hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/eutcc.net\/?page_id=30\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-30","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/eutcc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/eutcc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/eutcc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/eutcc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/eutcc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/eutcc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/eutcc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}