Council of Europe chief in Turkey to address post-coup concerns

ANKARA — The head of a top European rights watchdog was on Thursday holding talks with Turkish leaders to address concerns over the implementation of the state of emergency in the wake of the July 15 failed coup.

This visit to Ankara by Council of Europe chief Thorbjorn Jagland came a day after the European Union prompted an angry Turkish reaction by accusing Ankara of "backsliding" on human rights.

Ten MPs from the country's main pro-Kurdish party were arrested last week as well as nine staff from the opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper. At least 35,000 people have been placed under arrest in the wake of the coup.

Jagland, whose visit was announced at short notice, met Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara and was also to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as well as opposition figures.

"He wants to address the current state of emergency and the decrees and the impact of these decrees, especially on freedom of expression," his spokesman Daniel Holtgen told AFP.

Turkey has been a member of the Council of Europe since 1950 and Jagland believes it was essential the two sides speak to each other "as partners", the spokesman said.

He said Jagland also wanted to address the substantial number of complaints by individuals who claim to have been targeted in the crackdown building up at the European Court of Human Rights.

The court said Monday it had received an unusually high number of 850 new petitions concerning the Turkish crackdown, of which 450 were filed in the past week.

Jagland believes the best way to deal with the complaints is through Turkey's own constitutional court and was also due to meet its chief Zuhtu Arslan, the spokesman said.

He also wanted to bring up concerns on the reappearance of a discussion on restoring the death penalty in Turkey, which it abolished as part of its bid to join the EU.

Jagland was the first official from any major European institution to visit Turkey in the wake of the coup, winning plaudits from the authorities.

But after that visit he warned Turkey that the "net must not be cast too wide" in the crackdown.