[lg policy] Turkish language still far away from official EU status

Tue Apr 11 14:33:50 UTC 2017

Turkish language still far away from official EU status

By Sam Morgan <http://www.euractiv.com/authors/sam-morgan/> | EURACTIV.com
<http://www.euractiv.com/content_providers/euractiv-com/>

 1:49 (updated:  5:44)

Turkish-Cypriot voters cast their ballots in the constitutional referendum
in the northern part of the divided city of Nicosia, Cyprus, 6 April 2017.
[EPA/ Katia Christodoulou]

Languages: Français
<http://www.euractiv.fr/section/langues-culture/news/official-eu-language-status-evades-turkish/>
| Deutsch
<http://www.euractiv.de/section/soziales-europa/news/tuerkisch-als-eu-amtssprache-ein-zyprisches-luftschloss/>

In early 2016, Cyprus asked the EU to recognise Turkish as an official
language, in an attempt to boost its reunification process. Over one year
later, this request has made little headway.

In February 2016, Greek-Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades wrote to the
Dutch Presidency of the EU asking for Turkish to be recognised as the
bloc’s 25th official language.

Reunification talks between the two halves of the Mediterranean island are
still ongoing and Anastasiades hoped securing official status for Turkish
would advance the negotiations.

It is estimated over 300,000 people live in Northern Cyprus and the
population is almost entirely Turkish-speaking. The Greek-Cypriot
president’s request at the time suggested that a reunification deal was in
the offing.
<http://www.euractiv.com/section/enlargement/news/make-turkish-an-official-eu-language-cyprus-tells-eu/>
Cyprus: Make Turkish an official EU language
<http://www.euractiv.com/section/europe-s-east/news/make-turkish-an-official-eu-language-cyprus-tells-eu/>

Greek-Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades has asked the Dutch EU
Presidency to add Turkish to the bloc’s 24 official languages, in order to
boost attempts to reach a reunification agreement on the Mediterranean
island.

Peace talks are scheduled to resume today (11 April) after a two-month
hiatus. Controversial legislation that commemorated a 1950 referendum on
unification with Greece has been amended, after the Turkish-Cypriot side
took exception to the law.

Changes to the EU’s language regime can only be made through a unanimous
decision by all 28 member states. When asked by EURACTIV.com if the
European Commission had started preparing anything, the EU executive only
reiterated that language policy is an exclusive Council competence.

The only faint glimmer of progress since Anastasiades original request came
last April when MEPs adopted a European Parliament report on Turkey, which
also supported making Turkish an official language. Ironically, Ankara
rejected the report because of references to the Armenian genocide.
<http://www.euractiv.com/section/languages-culture/news/meps-call-for-turkish-becoming-eu-language/>
MEPs call for Turkish becoming EU language
<http://www.euractiv.com/section/languages-culture/news/meps-call-for-turkish-becoming-eu-language/>

One of the texts of the European Parliament Report on Turkey adopted
yesterday (14 April) calls for making Turkish an official language of the
EU, a move condemned by a minority of MEPs who voted against the report.

When it became clear last year that Cyprus was interested in adding
Turkish, a number of far-right Greek and French lawmakers asked the
Commission how the proposal would be in keeping with European values.

Golden Dawn MP Georgios Epitideios insisted that including Turkish would be
the same as “rewarding the occupying army in Cyprus and would be an insult
to Cypriots”.

He also added that it would pave the way for the recognition of “dozens” of
other languages spoken by EU citizens originally from third countries.

President of the Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, answering on behalf of the
EU executive in April 2016, said “the time has come to launch preparations
in order to enable the Union to start using Turkish as an official language
upon reunification of the island (Cyprus)”.

But he too explained that language rules are governed by the Council,
“acting unanimously”.

Brussels-Ankara ties are shaky at best at the moment so any chance of the
EU-28 agreeing on this issue look non-existent.

Disputes over political campaigning on foreign soil for Sunday’s
constitutional referendum led to violence last month and Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s repeated threats to end the bloc’s refugee
deal have upped tensions.
<http://www.euractiv.com/section/languages-culture/news/irish-to-be-given-full-official-eu-language-status/>
Irish to be given full official EU language status
<http://www.euractiv.com/section/languages-culture/news/irish-to-be-given-full-official-eu-language-status/>

Although it has been an official language of the EU since 2007, Irish will
now be gradually upgraded to a full working language of the European
institutions.

Last year’s request was not the first time Cyprus has raised the Turkish
language issue. When negotiating its membership of the EU in 2002, the
Republic was dissuaded by Brussels from pushing too hard on the issue,
citing “the limited practical purposes” and “considerable cost”.

Adding another language would increase the number of combinations the EU’s
translation and interpretation services have to deal with. Upping that
number from 552 to 600 would mean an estimated €37 million increase in the
annual bill.

The Republic of Cyprus has been an EU member since 2004. Turkish-Cypriots,
despite living in territory not under the control of the government, are
still considered EU citizens.

http://www.euractiv.com/section/languages-culture/news/official-eu-language-status-evades-turkish/

-- 
**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its
members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or
sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who
disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write
directly to the original sender of any offensive message.  A copy of this
may be forwarded to this list as well.  (H. Schiffman, Moderator)

For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to
https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/
listinfo/lgpolicy-list
*******************************************
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lgpolicy-list/attachments/20170411/9d73b7a7/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
_______________________________________________
This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list
lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format: https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list