On Tuesday 25 April, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) decided (by 113 votes to 45 against with 12 abstentions) to reopen the monitoring procedure against Turkey until the grave concerns regarding human rights, democracy and the rule of law have been dealt with in a satisfactory manner.
This procedure, which is often seen as a sanction or, at least, a humiliation, by the countries subjected to it, will expose Ankara to closer controls on its compliance with its human rights commitments.
Turkey was subjected to this procedure between 1996 and 2004 and was keen to ensure that the situation was not repeated. The Turkish delegation to the hemicycle played for time on this, asking for the decision to be put back until spring 2018 pending the implementation of the future harmonisation laws to be voted on, following the ‘yes’ vote in the referendum of 16 April (see EUROPE 11769).
PACE turned this request down, invoking Turkey’s democratic regression since the abortive coup d’État of 15 July 2016. It is concerned that the state of emergency brought in subsequently has been used not only to exclude the persons involved from state institutions, but also to silence critical voices and generate a climate of fear among ordinary citizens and universities, within non-government organisations and the independent media, at the risk of undermining the foundations of a democratic state.
PACE is therefore calling for the state of emergency to be lifted as soon as possible, an end to the promulgation of emergency decrees circumnavigating the parliamentary procedure, unless strictly necessary, and the liberation of all members of Parliament and journalists imprisoned and awaiting trial. According to the resolution, a committee of investigation into the state of emergency measures must also be established, as well as steps taken to ensure that the trials are carried out in full guarantee of a regular procedure and measures taken urgently to restore the freedom of expression and of the press.
The president of the Turkish parliamentary delegation to the Council of Europe, Talip Küçükcan, said that the report underpinning the adopted text was riddled with mistakes, biased and subjective. He went on to say that the resolution adopted by PACE would considerably reduce the respect of the Turkish people for the institution.
Mehmet Çavuşoğlu, the Turkish Foreign Minister, strongly condemned PACE’s decision. He described it as unfair, adding that Ankara had no choice but to reconsider the terms of its relationship with the Council of Europe. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)