European Parliament strongly condemns human rights violations in Turkey

Source: K.P. (Kati) Piri i, published on Thursday, February 8 2018, 3:39.

A large majority of the European Parliament adopted the resolution on the human rights situation in Turkey. The EP emphasizes the structural problems that exist, like the state of emergency and the arbitrariness of the judiciary. But also individual human rights cases are mentioned.

Dutch MEP and Turkey rapporteur Kati Piri: “The numbers are mind-boggling. More than 100.000 people have been fired and over 50.000 imprisoned in Turkey. Remember that all these people have a face, have a family, and have friends who are hoping that a normalization is still possible.

“The scale of the current crackdown on all democratic opposition voices in Turkey is unprecedented. While the Turkish authorities have the right to bring those responsible for the heinous coup attempt of 15 July 2016 to justice, the state of emergency is currently being used to silence dissent and goes way beyond any legitimate measures to combat threats to national security.”

“I expect the EU to be loud and clear on human rights in Turkey. Not only because these are the values that our Union is based upon, and Turkey as a candidate should adhere to them. But also because we risk losing credibility and support by a majority of Turkish society if we don’t stand up for their rights in these dark times.”

In the resolution about the current human rights situation in Turkey:

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    The European Parliament strongly condemned the attempted coup of 15 July 2016; where-as on 18 January 2018 the Turkish Parliament extended the state of emergency in Turkey for another three months; whereas the State of Emergency is currently being used to silence dissent and goes way beyond any legitimate measures to combat threats to national security;
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    The European Parliament calls on the Turkish authorities to respect the European Convention on Human Rights, including a clear rejection of capital punishment, and the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, including the principle of presumption of innocence;
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    Calls on the Turkish Government to offer all persons subject to restrictive measures appropriate and effective remedies and judicial review in line with the rule of law;
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    Strongly condemns the decision of the Turkish Parliament to unconstitutionally waive the immunity of a large number of MP-s, paving the way for the current arrests of 10 opposition MP-s and revoking the mandate of 6 opposition MP-s. And condemns the imprisonment of 68 Kurdish municipal mayors and the arbitrary replacement of local elected representatives, which is undermining further the democratic structure of Turkey.

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