Strasbourg, France/T24
Council of Europe Communications Director Daniel Höltgen, Osman KavalaHe evaluated that the Council of Ministers would not take a sanction decision during the violation process initiated against Turkey by the Council of Europe due to the fact that he was not released despite the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Höltgen met with a group of journalists at the headquarters of the Council of Europe, of which Turkey is a founding member and which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, in Strasbourg, France.
Höltgen, “I’ve seen Kavala and others more times than I can remember. DemirtasA call was made by member states for his release. As these calls were not met, the diplomatic language became increasingly harsh. However, in the current situation, I do not see any member state intending to impose sanctions.” he said. The communications director said that there was no preparation in this direction, and even the possibility of sanctions was not mentioned.
Höltgen stated that a sanction decision taken by the Council of Ministers could lead to expulsion from membership, as in the case of Russia, but a scenario such as Turkey’s expulsion from membership was never on the agenda. Russia was expelled from membership after launching an all-out invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2023. To exclude a country from the Council of Europe, a two-thirds vote of the member states is required.
Emphasizing that the violation process may have been initiated to send a signal to Turkey, Höltgen made the following assessment:
“Even when the violation process was first initiated, no government member of the member state voiced a demand for the termination of Turkey’s membership. On the other hand, after the violation process was initiated, a major war broke out in Europe. One of our member states has started killing people. There was crisis after crisis. We need to be in solidarity. I think member states do not want their attention to be divided. Of course, by doing this, the situation (Turkey’s failure to implement the ECHR decisions) will not go away, but there is nothing new to say on this issue at the moment. In the current situation, we call for the immediate release of Kavala“.
Stating that there is an opinion among the members of the European Council that Turkey will eventually implement the ECHR decisions, Höltgen stated that there are other countries that do not comply with the decisions and that this creates a reputation problem for the Council of Europe.
