01/07/2011 Monitoring
Strasbourg, 01.07.2011 - Josette Durrieu (France, SOC), rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the post-monitoring dialogue with Turkey, voiced her concern about the situation in the country following the refusal of 170 opposition MPs belonging to the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) to take the oath at the inaugural sitting of parliament.
“I note that all the applications for release lodged by opposition party candidates imprisoned while awaiting trial - and democratically elected in the polls of 12 June - have so far been refused. We will closely monitor the outcome of the proceedings pending before Turkish courts, in accordance with the principle of separation of powers. The current situation highlights the need to clarify the Electoral Code and raises the issue of the duration of pre-trial detention.
I hope for a rapid resolution of this crisis. The normalisation of parliament's democratic functioning depends on it, and such normalisation is vital to enable Turkey to pursue its reform process and initiate the revision of the Constitution with broad participation by all political parties that our Assembly desires," she stated.