Council of Europe vote puts pressure on Turkey over human rights

One of Europe’s leading human rights bodies has put Turkey back on a watchlist over “serious concerns” about democracy and human rights, putting pressure on the EU to reassess relations with Ankara. Erdoğan’s referendum victory spells the end of Turkey as we know it Yavuz Baydar Read more The parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe (Pace) voted to restart monitoring Turkey, a process it had relaxed in 2004 when it intended to pave the way for it to begin accession talks with the European Union. The Council of Europe, co-founded by Winston Churchill in 1949, is a separate body from the EU, but its decisions are closely watched in Brussels. EU foreign affairs ministers are due to discuss EU-Turkey relations on Friday for the first time since Recep Tayyip Erdoğan eked out a narrow victory in a referendum that granted him sweeping new powers as president. The unprecedented decision to reinstate monitoring of a Council of Europe member triggered a furious reaction from the Turkish government, which said the “unjust” move was motivated by xenophobia and Islamophobia. Ankara, one of the council’s oldest members, said it was now reconsidering its relations with the body. “Deciding to reopen the monitoring procedure on Turkey ... under the guidance of malicious circles at the Pace is a disgrace to this organ, which claims to be the cradle of democracy,” a Turkish government statement said. MPs in the assembly concluded the contest took place on an “uneven playing field”, endorsing the verdict of observers from the Organisation for Co-operation and Security in Europe, who said the referendum had fallen short of democratic standards.

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