Page 57 - bne Magazine February 2023

bne February 2023 Southeast Europe I 57
this was a historic moment.
“The European path is a union of all citizens in the hope for better future. The candidate status comes as incentive and recognition,” Turkovic wrote on Twitter.
“Despite all problems we are finishing this mandate with a huge, historic step towards the EU membership,” she added.
There was no official statement from the government.
However, a survey carried out by Bosnia’s Directorate for EU integration, showed that just 34.7% of Bosnians believe their country will become member of the EU within ten years versus 40.6% a year ago.
When it comes to the country's two entities, the majority of those in the Muslim-Croat Federation believes that EU membership would strengthen relations within the country, while the majority of the Serbs living in Republika Srpska believes that the EU will not survive.
Ahead of December 13, many Bosnians, even those who are most keen joining the bloc, were sceptical, expecting that the country would get another delay.
Bosnia formally applied for EU membership in February 2016, but it took three years for its politicians to complete and approve the questionnaire sent by Brussels. Meanwhile, reforms in the deeply divided country have been stalled for years.
The authorities in Kosovo have said they plan to formally apply for EU membership this week, even though five EU member states do not recognise Kosovo as an independent state.
Earlier this year, both Moldova and Ukraine were given candidate status, while Albania and North Macedonia were given the green light to start accession negotiations.
Turkish doctors’ chief convicted of terrorist propaganda amid claims army hit Kurds with chemical weapons
bne IntelIiNews
Sebnem Korur Fincanci, a forensic specialist who is head of Turkey's medical association, was on January 11 convicted of spreading terrorist propaganda over her call for an independent investigation into the alleged used of chemical weapons against Kurdish militants by the Turkish army.
Fincanci was sentenced to nearly three years in jail. However, under Turkish law, she was already eligible for release as people are rarely imprisoned
in Turkey for sentences of under three years. It was expected that Financi would be freed imminently, more than two months after her arrest.
Rights groups have protested that her detention amounted to a bid by the authorities to silence her and other activists.
Fincanci, also a well-known human rights activist, was arrested after calling for a probe into claims that the Turkish military deployed banned chemical weapons against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq. Her comments on the matter were published by pro-Kurdish media.
The BBC's Zeynep Erdim was in court to hear Fincanci in a brief address state that her trial was politically motivated and was targeting democratic values and freedom of expression. Supporters of Fincanci chanted "this
is only the beginning, we will carry on fighting" and "the Turkish Medical Association [TTB] will not be silenced", Erdim reported.
Emma Sinclair, head of Human Rights Watch (HRW) in Turkey, welcomed
the fact that Fincanci was to be freed but said that her case "sends a strong message to everyone to be silent". Sinclair also said that she was anxious as regards other board members of the TTB. They could, she noted, face similar action to that experienced by Fincanci if portrayed as members of a terrorist organisation.
The TTB said in a tweet, apparently referencing upcoming national elections to be held by June, that Fincanci's return to the organisation meant she “will play our role at the turning point in front of our country”.
It added: “We will ensure that neither the TTB nor our country surrenders to the darkness!”
Last October, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), outlawed in Turkey as an insurgent terrorist organisation, released video footage that it said showed Turkish troops releasing a substance into a cave as well as its effects on a male fighter and a female fighter. The group also gave the details of 17 of its members whom, it said, had lost their lives recently to chemical weapons.
The Turkish government has strongly denied using chemical weapons against the PKK.
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