Turk opposition slams move to ask CoE for a statement on AKP case
Güncelleme Tarihi:
The Turkish opposition and media strongly reacted to claims that the Turkish delegation asked a Council of Europe body to make a statement against the closure case facing the ruling party. Opposition parties slammed the ruling party for the move, but the AKP denied any suggestions that it asked the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to issue a statement. A statement issued by PACE against the closure case in the Constitutional Court is unacceptable, said PACE members from Turkey's opposition parties. (UPDATED)
The head of PACE told
"If it was an issue only about one political party, we wouldn't accept it. Lawsuits demanding political party closures have been filed in the past, and at that time nobody demanded such action from us," Luis Maria Puig was quoted as saying.
The AKP MPs made this demand, according to information leaked from Puig's office, Hurriyet reported. But there is no official announcement on who asked PACE to issue a statement regarding the case.
Â
JOINT STATEMENT
Deputies from Turkish opposition parties, who are also members of PACE said on Thursday that issuance of a written declaration by PACE about closure case against ruling AKP was unacceptable.
Republican People's Party MP Birgen Keles, as well as Nationalist Movement Party deputies Tugrul Turkes and Ertugrul Kumcuoglu held a joint press conference in Strasbourg.
Keles said either CHP or MHP asked PACE to make such a decleration. "It is unacceptable for Turkish delegation to demand (such thing) for a lawsuit filed in Turkey," she added.
Turkes said that any declaration which would be released by PACE could be perceived as an intervention in the functioning of independent jurisdiction (in Turkey). "We found it unacceptable to complain about problems of
Turkey to foreign institutions and to ask for their support regarding our domestic matters," he added.
The Turkish delegation in PACE consists of eight MPs from the AKP, and two each from the opposition CHP and MHP. The nationalist MHP strongly reacted to the situation. "The AKP is going door to door to put pressure on the Turkish judiciary... They are begging for support and mercy," said Deniz Bolukbasi, MHP's MP from
Meanwhile the AKP denied any request was made to PACE to issue such a statement. Head of the Turkish delegation at the PACE, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said on Thursday his delegation did not make a request from PACE to issue a statement on the party closure case filed against the AKP.
"I have not made such a request either as the head of the Turkish delegation or as a deputy of the AKP. Such an initiative came from the President of PACE Luis Maria De Puig," Cavusoglu told the Anatolian Agency.
Turkish Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan also told reporters on Wednesday he was not informed about the situation and he had not made an invitation to PACE requesting they issue such a communiqué, the official Anatolian Agency reported.