Turkey under the scanner again

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted on April 25 a resolution entitled “The functioning of the democratic institutions in Turkey.” The resolution received 113 votes in favor and 45 against. Unlike the other members of Turkey’s delegation to PACE, two members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democracy Party (HDP) voted in favor.

The resolution placed Turkey under observation, and said it deviated from democratic practices by violating human rights in security operations. This means Europe deems Turkey non-compliant with the Copenhagen political criteria, which is considered the main reference for good governance and human rights.

Turkey was put on the watch list in 1996 and stayed there for eight years. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) worked hard in 2004 to get Turkey off the list, and prided itself on doing so. It persuaded the Council of Europe by carrying out structural reforms in all areas of fundamental rights and freedoms. These reforms were also a precondition for starting Turkey’s accession negotiations to the EU.

Its performance was much appreciated by Gunther Verheugen, then-EU commissioner in charge of enlargement, who said in 2004: “The reforms achieved in Turkey in the last 18 months are more than the reforms achieved in the last 80 years.” The same country has now become the first in the history of the Council of Europe to be put back on the watch list.

PACE resolutions are regarded as a touchstone for high standards in governance. The EU, which is an entirely different body, follows closely the activities of the Council of Europe and abides by its norms.

Turkey, a founding member of the Council since 1949, now has the highest number of complaints against it in the European Court of Human Rights, the Council’s judiciary organ. Most of the complaints are about violations of human rights such as suspending, sacking, arresting and jailing public servants.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted on April 25 a resolution entitled “The functioning of the democratic institutions in Turkey.” The resolution received 113 votes in favor and 45 against. Unlike the other members of Turkey’s delegation to PACE, two members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democracy Party (HDP) voted in favor.

The resolution placed Turkey under observation, and said it deviated from democratic practices by violating human rights in security operations. This means Europe deems Turkey non-compliant with the Copenhagen political criteria, which is considered the main reference for good governance and human rights.

Turkey was put on the watch list in 1996 and stayed there for eight years. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) worked hard in 2004 to get Turkey off the list, and prided itself on doing so. It persuaded the Council of Europe by carrying out structural reforms in all areas of fundamental rights and freedoms. These reforms were also a precondition for starting Turkey’s accession negotiations to the EU.

Its performance was much appreciated by Gunther Verheugen, then-EU commissioner in charge of enlargement, who said in 2004: “The reforms achieved in Turkey in the last 18 months are more than the reforms achieved in the last 80 years.” The same country has now become the first in the history of the Council of Europe to be put back on the watch list.

PACE resolutions are regarded as a touchstone for high standards in governance. The EU, which is an entirely different body, follows closely the activities of the Council of Europe and abides by its norms.

Turkey, a founding member of the Council since 1949, now has the highest number of complaints against it in the European Court of Human Rights, the Council’s judiciary organ. Most of the complaints are about violations of human rights such as suspending, sacking, arresting and jailing public servants.