Norwegian PM stresses democracy, rule of law

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

The Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg cooked sashimi (raw salmon) with Norwegian cook Jostein Medhus in the Çırağan Palace kitchen in Istanbul. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜREL

Restrictive press freedom in Turkey was one of the items on the agenda of the meeting between Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Stoltenberg said.

“It is important all these people are tried in independent courts based on the rule of law,” the Norwegian prime minister told Hürriyet Daily News in an interview yesterday regarding the concerns over the arrested journalists in Turkey. 

During his meeting with Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek in Ankara on Monday, Stoltenberg praised Turkey’s democratic progress but questioned respect for free speech and media freedom, joining mounting international misgivings over Ankara’s record. 

Stoltenberg also said that during his meeting with Erdoğan they agreed to establish a dialogue on human rights through the United Nations and European Council. 

The visiting prime minister avoided making any comments on the move of the public prosecutor in Silivri to file a case against main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. “The most important thing is democracy and rule of law,” Stoltenberg said. 

Stoltenberg also attended a luncheon yesterday that was hosted in his honor at Çırağan Palace in Istanbul. 
Before the luncheon, the Norwegian premier cooked sashimi (raw salmon) with Norwegian cook Jostein Medhus in the Çırağan Palace kitchen. Stoltenberg said he also tried Turkish seafood and liked it very much. 

Stoltenberg proceeded from Istanbul to Yalova city with Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım to attend a ceremony to launch a Norwegian-Turkish ship that was constructed at Yalova Tersan Shipyard.

Stoltenberg also talked about the Turkish girl Gizem Doğan who was killed in the two sequential terrorist attacks against the government, the civilian population and a summer camp in Norway on July 22, 2011.

Anders Behring Breivik, a 32-year-old Norwegian right-wing extremist, is currently on trial for the attacks that killed 77 people.

“Turkey is one of the countries which know best how dangerous and cruel terror can be. Now Norway also knows how dangerous and how cruel terrorism is,” Stoltenberg said.