| Series Title | EurActiv |
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| Series Details | 21.07.16 |
| Publication Date | 21/07/2016 |
| Content Type | News |
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a three-month state of emergency on the 20 July 2016 following the attempted military coup on the 15 July 2016. He said the move was necessary 'in order to remove swiftly all the elements of the terrorist organisation involved in the coup attempt'. The state of emergency came into force on the 21 July 2016. It would allow the President to bypass parliament in passing new laws and limit or suspend rights and freedoms when deemed necessary. The Council of Europe issued a Press Release on the 21 July 2016 saying that the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, had been informed by the Turkish authorities that Turkey would notify its derogation from the European Convention on Human Rights under the Convention’s Article 15. The possibility of a derogation was foreseen by Article 15 of the Convention in times of public emergency threatening the life of a nation and had been used in the past by other member states, most recently by France and by Ukraine. However, the Council of Europe went on to affirm that there could be no derogation from the following articles: Article 2 (Right to life), Article 3 (Prohibition of torture and inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment), Article 4 para. 1 (prohibition of slavery), Article 7 (No punishment without law). It was important to note that the European Convention on Human Rights would continue to apply in Turkey. Where the Government sought to invoke Article 15 in order to derogate from the Convention in individual cases, the European Court of Human Rights would decide whether the application met the criteria set out in the Convention, notably the criteria of proportionality of the measure taken. The EU expressed concern in a Statement issued on the 21 July 2016: 'We are following the developments regarding the State of Emergency Turkey has declared after the attempted coup, which the European Union condemned, very closely and with concern. This declaration comes in the wake of the recent unacceptable decisions on the education system, judiciary and the media. As outlined in the conclusions of the Council and in the discussion of the European Commission this week, we call on Turkish authorities to respect under any circumstances the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right of all individuals concerned to a fair trial'. Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), underlined on the 21 July 2016 that the principles of rule of law, democracy and respect for human rights need to be upheld in Turkey, following the attempted coup. The ODIHR Director’s statement follows reports that thousands of judges and prosecutors across the country were detained, arrested or dismissed from their positions immediately after the failed coup attempt. Two top holders of media freedom mandates of the United Nations and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) condemned on the 28 July 2016 the ongoing crackdown on journalists and the media launched by Turkish Government in the wake of the attempted coup. The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, and the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, expressed alarm at measures adopted by the Turkish authorities. Dozens of journalists had been reportedly arrested and a large number of media outlets closed in the previous twenty-four hours. |
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| Source Link | Link to Main Source http://www.euractiv.com/section/enlargement/news/turkeys-erdogan-declares-state-of-emergency-after-coup-bid/ |
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| Countries / Regions | Turkey |
