On the occasion of the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council, we sent a letter to HR\/VP JosepBorrell to draw the attention to the recent deplorable Turkish disregard for human rights, democracy, and the very rule of domestic\/international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Joseph Borrell
July 7, 2020
HR\/VP of the European Commission
Rue de la loi 200 \/ Wetstraat 200
1040 Brussels, Belgium<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Dear HR\/VP Borrell, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The EU Turkey Civic Commission\n(EUTCC) would like respectfully to draw your attention to the recent deplorable\nTurkish disregard for human rights, democracy, and the very rule of\ndomestic\/international law. Specifically, the Turkish military invasion and\ncontinuing occupation of portions of northeastern Syria in October 2019 and\nmore than 150 attacks on sites within the jurisdiction of the Kurdistan\nRegional Government of Iraq including the supposedly UN-protected Maxmur\nrefugee camp housing more than 12 000 refugees and IDPs in June 2020 should be\nnoted. Numerous civilians died in these Turkish attacks. In addition, we note\nthe illegal removal of constitutionally elected mayors from the peaceful,\nlegal, and pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) in Turkey on bogus\ncharges of terrorism. Their replacement by government appointed \u201ctrustees\u201d is\nin violation of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice\nCommission) opinion released on 18 June 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The EUTCC is an international NGO created in 2004 to promote Turkish accession to the European Union (EU) as a means to help solve the Kurdish problem in that country through guaranteed respect for human and minority rights to achieve a peaceful, democratic, and long-term solution. Thus, the EUTCC monitors and conducts regular audits of Turkey\u2019s compliance with the EU accession requirements as listed in the Copenhagen Criteria. The EUTCC also sponsors annual conferences within the EU parliament in Brussels to review and assess Turkey\u2019s progress in these areas of major concern for the EU and international peace and law. Upon conclusion of our annual conference, we release to the international press a final resolution regarding the conference\u2019s major statements and findings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In harmony with our continuing mission, the recent European Union\n(EU) Progress Report on Turkey<\/em>\ndeclared:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nadoption of a law allowing the immunity of a large number of deputies to be\nlifted and the ensuing detentions and arrests of several HDP members of\nParliament, including the two Co-Chairs, in November [2016], are a matter of\ngrave concern. . . . Many elected\nrepresentatives and municipal executives in the southeast were suspended,\nremoved from their duties, or arrested under terrorism-related charges, some of\nthem on the basis of decrees under the state of emergency following the [Gulen]\ncoup attempt. However, anti-terror measures need to be proportionate and must\nrespect human rights. . . . There has\nbeen backsliding in the past year, in particular with regard to the\nindependence of the judiciary. . . . The anti-terror law is not in line with\nthe acquis <\/em>[in effect, the EU\nConstitution] with regard to its scope and definitions and its application\nraises serious fundamental rights concern. . . . Many allegations of serious violations of the\nprohibition of torture and ill-treatment and of procedural rights [also] were\nreported. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In\naddition, the most recent (2019) U.S. State Department\nHuman Rights Report on Turkey concluded: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Significant human rights issues included:\nreports of arbitrary killings; suspicious deaths of persons in custody; forced\ndisappearances; torture; arbitrary arrest and detention of tens of thousands of\npersons, including former opposition members of parliament, lawyers,\njournalists, foreign citizens, and employees of the U.S. Mission, for purported\nties to \u201cterrorist\u201d groups or peaceful legitimate speech; the existence of\npolitical prisoners, including elected officials and academics; significant\nproblems with judicial independence; severe restriction on freedom of\nexpression, the press, and the internet, including violence and threats of\nviolence against journalists, closure of media outlets, and unjustified arrests\nor criminal prosecution of journalists and others for criticizing government\npolicies or officials, censorship, site blocking and the existence of criminal\nlibel laws; severe restriction of freedoms of assembly, association, and\nmovement, some cases of refoulment of refugees, and violence against\nwomen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Contrary to what the Turkish government often implicitly tries to\nmaintain, the peaceful pro-Kurdish HDP political party is not linked to the\nviolence that has occurred in Turkey. Indeed, the Turkish government itself has\nrecognized this fact by currently allowing more than 50 legally elected members\nof the pro-Kurdish HDP to serve as members of the Turkish Parliament. Although he has been incarcerated since\nOctober 2016, Turkish laws ironically permitted Selahattin Demirtas, the former\nco-chair of the HDP, to run for President of Turkey in the elections held on\nAugust 14, 2014 and most recently on June 24, 2018. Indeed, the HDP has legal\noffices in Europe and the United States. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Even during the current\ncoronavirus pandemic\u2014which has struck hard in Turkey\u2014the government has\ncontinued to remove peaceful, legally elected HDP mayors and replace them with\ngovernment trustees. For example, on March 23, 2020, the government removed eight\nmore HDP mayors and again on May 15, 2020 another five. These five included\nSiirt, Igdir, Kurtalan, Baykan, and Altinova. A total of 51 out of 65 HDP-run\nmunicipalities have had their legally elected officials removed since the most\nrecent local elections held on March 31, 2019. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the peaceful goals the HDP seeks are: 1.) Release of the\napproximately 5,000 non-violent Kurdish activists currently being held on\nterrorism charges; 2). Mother-tongue education for the Kurds in public schools;\n3.) Reduction of the unreasonably high 10 percent threshold for election to the\nTurkish Parliament and its lowering to such EU standards as possibly 5 percent\nso that minorities such as the Kurds can be represented more accurately in line\nwith their actual numbers; 4.) Expanding the boundaries for civil liberties\nregarding organizing, assembly, and speech; and 5.) The implementation of a\nnew, more democratic Turkish Constitution to replace the authoritarian one\nwritten by the military in 1982 and subsequently amended by the Erdogan\ngovernment to grant Erdogan even more power. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Based on these egregiously unacceptable facts, the EUTCC\nrespectfully asks that the European Commission publicize this situation and\nconsider further actions such as targeted, smart sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Respectfully yours,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kariane Westrheim Michael Gunter Dersim Dagdeviren On the occasion of the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council, we sent a letter to HR\/VP JosepBorrell to draw the attention to the recent deplorable Turkish disregard for human rights, democracy, and the very rule of domestic\/international law. Joseph… Continue reading
Chairperson<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Secretary General<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Board member<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"