BRUSSELS (Dispatches) – Turkey has gone "too far” with emergency measures adopted after an abortive mid-July coup, violating international law, Europe’s leading human rights organization says.
In an opinion adopted by its experts, the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe said the Turkish government had "good reasons” to declare the state of emergency in reaction to a "dangerous armed conspiracy,” but noting that the measures it implemented also violated the country's constitution and international law.
The opinion, requested by the Monitoring Committee of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, also condemned the mass dismissal of "tens of thousands of public servants” by the government based on lists added to emergency decrees rather than on "verifiable evidence” in each individual case.
It also decried Ankara’s liquidation of associations instead of putting them under temporary state control.