18/06/2024 Monitoring
Following a fact-finding visit to Ankara and Istanbul on 11-14 June 2024, PACE’s co-rapporteur for the monitoring of Türkiye, Stefan Schennach (Austria, SOC), has again called on the Turkish authorities to implement the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and to continue their high-level dialogue with the Council of Europe.
"I am very grateful to the Turkish authorities, and in particular to the chairperson of the delegation to PACE, Yıldırım Tuğrul Türkeş (Türkiye, NR), for having facilitated my meetings with Osman Kavala and Selahattin Demirtaş, the latter having been arranged at very short notice.
Mr Kavala has been in prison since October 2017, despite two judgments of the European Court of Human Rights calling for his immediate release. On 28 September 2023 his conviction for aggravated life imprisonment was upheld by the Court of Cassation.
Mr Demirtaş has been detained since November 2016 despite a judgment of the Strasbourg Court also ordering his immediate release. Last May, he was convicted by a first instance court and sentenced to 42-year prison term in the so-called ‘Kobane case’. I have strongly condemned this sentence as based on unfounded charges.
During my meetings with the authorities, I recalled that the execution of Strasbourg Court judgments is a legal obligation enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights and strongly called on the Turkish authorities to take without delay all necessary measures to implement the judgments concerning Messrs Kavala and Demirtaş. The resolution of these cases lies in the hands of the Turkish judiciary, which has the capacity to find a legal solution in compliance with the requirements of the Committee of Ministers, which supervises their execution.
During my visit, civil society representatives also shared with me their concerns about overcrowding in penitentiary facilities and the excessive length of prison sentences and detention on remand. Detainees are often kept in detention hundreds of kilometres away from their families, which increases their feelings of isolation and violates their right to respect for family life.
I believe that my visit is an important step forward in the dialogue between the Council of Europe and the authorities of Türkiye, one of the oldest members of the Organisation. I also hope that we will continue our good co-operation in promoting the strengthening of the country’s human rights protection system and our common European values.”
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During his visit, Mr Schennach met the representatives of all political groups as well as members of the Committees on Human Rights Inquiry and on Justice at the Grand National Assembly, members of Türkiye’s delegation to PACE, the Deputy Ministers of Justice and of Foreign Affairs, judges at the Constitutional Court, the Chief Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation, the representatives of a number of different NGOs and members of the diplomatic community.
He also visited the Sincan prison in Ankara, where he met Murat Arslan, judge and laureate of the 2017 Václav Havel Prize; the Marmara prison in Istanbul, where he met Osman Kavala and the former Co-Mayor of Van Bekir Kaya; and the Edirne prison, where he met Selahattin Demirtaş.