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The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) discussed the situation in Turkey on June 26. Rapporteur of the PACE Monitoring Committee on Turkey Luc Van den Brande made a report on “the functioning of democratic institutions in Turkey”, APA European bureau reports. A great concern about the case against the Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was expressed during the discussions.
The rapporteur said he was against the ban on parties in general. PACE Monitoring Committee considers that regardless of the court ruling, ban on AKP in Turkey and on the political activity of 71 members of the party, including prime minister, president and 39 members of the parliament will affect the political stability of the country and will seriously damage the democratic activity of the state institutions and will delay the political and economic reforms as well.
The report said the mechanism of monitoring process for Turkey should be reviewed, if the court would decide to ban the party and it would be a next obstacle for Turkey on its way to the European Union. Turkish delegation to PACE divided during the discussions. AKP members positively valued the report, but Togrul Turkesh and other oppositionists criticized it.
They said PACE resolution on this issue was not correct and could be valued as an attempt to put pressure on Turkish court. A number of European parliamentarians spoke about the progresses and reforms made by the AKP administration, as well as acceleration of Turkey’s integration into the European Union. They called on the Turkey’s judiciary bodies to respect the people’s choice. The report was adopted with 65 votes in favor of and to three against. Turkey is among the countries holding post-monitoring dialogue with PACE.
