13/11/2012 Monitoring
On returning from her third fact-finding mission to Turkey from 5 to 9 November 2012, Josette Durrieu (France, SOC), PACE rapporteur on post-monitoring dialogue with Turkey recalled the four main issues raised during her visit.
Referring to the reception of Syrian refugees, she highlighted the “outstanding effort” of the authorities and the Turkish people’s “exemplary solidarity”.
As to freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate, she said that the 3rd judicial reform package “does not seem to have yielded the expected results, despite some genuine progress". She had talked again to the authorities about the problem of journalists, students and academics held in pre-trial detention, including the indictment of the young Franco-Turkish and Kurdish student, Sevil Sevimli.
As to the process of drawing up a new constitution, she called for the new constitution to "ensure the institutional balance between powers, to establish checks and balances and to respect everyone’s fundamental rights” and individual freedoms, while inviting Turkey to take advantage of the expertise of the Venice Commission.
On the Kurdish question, she expressed concern at the fact that many Kurdish prisoners had gone on hunger strike and called for an immediate halt to be put to this and for a path to dialogue to be opened up. “The only solution to the Kurdish question is a political one", she concluded.