Socialists in Council of Europe back CHP's anti-coup stance

STRASBOURG

CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu

The Socialist Group in the Council of Europe has announced that it supports Turkish main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) meeting to be held in Istanbul on July 24, calling for respect to human rights and democracy in a statement on the July 15 coup attempt in Turkey.

“As Socialist Group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, we feel close to our friends and comrades of the CHP who will, next Sunday, reunite in a manifestation in Taksim Square to support democracy and to all the Turkish citizens that fight for the respect of human rights and reject violence,” said the group's president in a statement.

“We strongly condemn every attempt to undermine with arms the democratic life of the Turkish people, the institutions, its government democratically elected. We are convinced that the way to beat violence and terrorism cannot be based on a lesser respect of human rights but at the contrary in a larger respect of them. That’s why we think it is unacceptable the suspension of the immunity for the members of the parliament, inhuman treatments of prisoners, the massive purge in universities and schools. We are worried for the suspension of the ECHR and we consider the reintroduction of death penalty absolutely incompatible with the membership to the Council of Europe.”