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Istanbul, 19 November 2016 – Lawmakers from the NATO Parliamentary Assembly questioned Turkish government ministers Saturday over the failed coup that rocked the country in July and the aftermath that has seen tens of thousands of people dismissed and detained.
While expressing solidarity with the Turkish government and people for resisting the coup, which killed over 240 people, several members raised concerns over the subsequent series of dismissals and arrests which has affected teachers, opposition politicians, civil servants, judges and journalists as well as the military.
“We understand a strong reaction is necessary for this traumatic experience,” said Dutch legislator Salima Belhaj. “However … we are worried about the developments that the rule of law is taking in Turkey.”
Belhaj was among several NATO PA members who quizzed Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ when he met with the Assembly’s Committee on the Civil Dimension of Security. Bozdağ insisted the authorities are working within the law in responding to the coup.
Turkish ministers complained that Allies had been slow to condemn the July 15 coup attempt and appealed for more support from the West to help Turkey fight terrorism, bolster its defences and cope with the around 3 million refugees, mostly from Syria and Iraq, who have found shelter in the country.
“We do not see international solidarity,” Bozdağ said. “This is a huge disappointment.”
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu saıd Turkey was playıng a key securıty role on NATO’s southern and eastern flanks and wanted more reassurance measures from the Alliance. “NATO should also keep its promises … so that all NATO members can feel themselves safe and secure on the eastern and southern flanks,” he told the NATO PA’s Political Committee. “That’s why we call on NATO to take action.”
NATO PA members expressed recognition for Turkey’s enhanced role given security challenges arising from the conflict in neighbouring Syria and its efforts in the refugee crisis, but there were repeated questions about the post-coup response.
“We congratulate Turkey on its stalwart support for NATO,” said Britain’s Lord Hamilton of Epsom, “But we do feel, in the United Kingdom, that the reaction to this been somewhat disproportionate … we have to make a balance between the individual freedom of our citizens and the security of the state.”
The lawmakers also raised questions with the Turkish ministers over women’s rights, Turkey’s relations with the EU and freedom of the media. They were particularly concerned about the lifting of parliamentary immunity of some of the Turkish legislators.
“NATO is not just a military alliance, but it’s also an alliance with common values, defending human rights, freedoms,” Ulla Schmidt.”It is also a concern for us if the critical media, one after another, are confronted with terrible problems, if they are closed down, if journalists are arrested.”
At a joint press conference held earlier today, both Osman Askin Bak, Head of the Turkish delegation, and Michael R. Turner, President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, stressed the timeliness and significance of the Assembly’s meeting in Turkey. “This meeting has special meaning for us,” by giving top officials from Turkey the chance to share their views on NATO and explain to deputies what happened four months on from the coup, Mr Bak stated.Mr Turner in turn expressed support for Turkey in its battle with terrorısm and struggle to host some three mıllıon Syrian refugees while it recovers from the faıled coup attempt. “We are holding this session here in Istanbul as another way to demonstrate our solidarity with Turkey and the Turkish people and to recognise the trauma that the coup represented”, he stressed, while also noting that “we are here in support of Turkish democracy”. “Solidarity and democracy go hand in hand. They are NATO’s shared values”.
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