ISTANBUL - FIDH Deputy Chairperson Reyhan Yalçındağ said that if Turkey resists the decisions of the ECtHR, the issue will be brought to the Council of Europe and the process of expulsion from the council may be initiated.

 

Democratic politics was targeted within the scope of the "Plan of Collapse", which was decided at the National Security Council (NSC) meeting on October 30, 2014 and put into effect in 2015 with the AKP's return to war policies. The parliamentary immunity was lifted at the session of the General Assembly of the Assembly on May 20, 2016 With the order of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Former Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chairs Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahattin Demirtaş and their deputies were detained as a result of a political coup on November 4, 2016, against whom hundreds of lawsuits have been filed.

 

Following the HDP Law Commission's application, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on HDP former Co-Chair Figen Yüksekdağ and 13 MPs on November 8, 2022. The court ruled that the detention of HDP MPs was unfair, their detention was continued unjustly, their right to freedom of expression and election and election were violated, and Article 18 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was violated in connection with their detention. The court, which decided on the application, sentenced Turkey to pay 184 thousand 600 Euros for non-pecuniary damage.

 

Thereupon, Türkiye objected to the decision. Evaluating the objection, the ECtHR Grand Chamber rejected Turkey's objection. Thus, the decision about Türkiye became final.

 

Reyhan Yalçındağ, the Deputy Chairperson of the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), headquartered in Paris, France, and the lawyer of politicians, evaluated the ECtHR decision and Turkey's objection.

 

IMPORTANCE OF THE ECtHR DECISION

 

Pointing out that the ECtHR's decisions analyze a historical process, Yalçındağ reminded the "Solution process" and the results of the June 7 election and what happened after it. Stating that these issues were included in the four separate decisions, Yalçındağ said: “It has now become clear and clear with the decisions taken by the ECtHR, which is an international mechanism, that the entire process of detention, arrest and punishment is political. Decisions are very important from a legal point of view. These decisions will be discussed more because we have a series of local courts that do not implement the decision of the ECHR. At the same time, it has historical, political and sociological aspects."

 

‘TÜRKİYE IS NO LAW STATE’

 

Stating that even the “written” law was shelved in Turkey after 2015, Yalçındağ said: “Turkey has always been far from being a state of law. Before us, we saw the Strict Administration Courts, and we saw the State Security Courts (DGM) and Specially Authorized Courts. Thousands of Kurdish mayors, elected officials and political party leaders were arrested by the lawyers, who were later dismissed under the name of FETÖ, in the process that started in 2009 and was called 'KCK operations'; therefore, the law was never applied. Since 2015, we have been living in a period in which written law has not been implemented in any way and has moved away from the 'state of law'.

 

TÜRKİYE MAY EVEN BE EXPULSED FROM THE COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP

 

Stating that if Turkey resists the ECtHR decision, the issue will go before the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (EC-UK), Yalçındağ said: "The committee, in which Turkey is a member, could initiate Turkey's voting rights with a suspension and a series of actions. The process may even lead to the expulsion of Turkey from the council membership”.

 

MA / Mehmet Aslan