UN urges Turkey to ensure rights after declaring state of emergency

ISTANBUL

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The U.N. secretary general has urged Turkish authorities to ensure constitutional order and respect human rights during the recently-declared three-month state of emergency, which was instituted after the July 15 failed coup attempt and drew concern from the international community for its potential to infringe on basic human rights and freedoms.  

In a statement on July 21, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he had received repeated assurances from senior Turkish government officials that they would adhere to rule of law and due process when investigating and prosecuting those believed to be responsible for the attempted coup and he asked that they honor them.

Ban said he hoped that procedures under the state of emergency will be carried out in full transparency.
The European Union expressed “concern” on July 21 over Turkey’s decision to impose a state of emergency following the failed coup attempt, urging the country to respect human rights and the rule of law.

Turkey imposed a three-month state of emergency and suspended a key European rights convention in a bid to strengthen state powers and round up suspects behind the failed military coup attempt.

“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,” said a statement jointly issued by the bloc’s foreign affairs chief, Federica Mogherini, and enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn.

Meanwhile, an ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel on July 22 urged the European Union to suspend accession talks with Turkey over a purge launched by the Turkish government against suspected plotters of last week’s failed coup. 

“If one sees how Turkey is dismantling the rule of law... then these [EU membership] negotiations must be stopped immediately,” said Horst Seehofer, who heads the Bavaria-based sister party to Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU). 

“No democratic constitutional state acts like this,” the leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU) party told the Funke Media Group in an interview.