Turkey maybe challenged in the European Court of Human Rights, secretary-general of the Council of Europe warned.
Speaking to reporters at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, Thorbjorn Jagland told the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu that Ankara must provide clear evidence in pursuing coup plotters and desist from its indiscriminate targeting of political oppositions.
“We are stressing to the Turks that they have to present clear evidence, be able to separate those who were clearly behind the coup and those who have been in some way or another connected to or working for this so-called Gulen network,” Reuters reported.
Turkey has accused the European Union of double standards in criticising its crackdown while showing hesitation in condemning the coup plotters that killed 240 people as well as bombing the country’s parliament.
Cavusoglu stressed that the” process will be very transparent and the supervision of the European Court of Human Rights is still valid and the Convention on Human Rights is also a guideline for Turkey even during this difficult time.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has cracked down on schools, media and businesses run by US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen since the July coup. Several thousand soldiers have been expelled from the army, and more than 100,000 people, including civil servants, teachers, journalists and soldiers, have been suspended or sacked.