Category Archives: Turkije

Letter to the members of the European Commission and European Council

On 3rd January 2022, the Platform for Turkey, represented by the Presidents of the 4 main European Associations of Judges (Association of European Administrative Judges, AEAJ; the European Association of Judges, EAJ; Judges for Judges and Magistrates Européens pour la Démocratie et les Libertés, MEDEL), addressed a Letter to the members of the European Commission and European Council, demanding action to restore the Rule of Law in Turkey and to end the witch-hunt against judges. Continue reading Letter to the members of the European Commission and European Council

Five years of devastations to Rule of Law in Turkey

The Rule of Law has been suspended in Turkey for the last five years. In the tragic backsliding that followd the attempted Coup d’État of 15 July 2016, the Turkish judiciary has seen one of its darkest pages: the dismissal of thousands of judges and prosecutors, long imprisonments in life endangering detention conditions after unfair trials, and socially stigmatized and economically threatened families.

The Platform for an Independent Judiciary in Turkey, consisting of the four major judicial associations in Europe, in an official statement directed at the Council of Europe and the European Commission therefore:

  • continues to stand in solidarity behind the unlawfully and illegally detained and/or dismissed Turkish judges and prosecutors;
  • strongly urges the European institutions to call on Turkey to provide guarantees and standards for a de iure and de facto independence of the judges and prosecutors as well as to take responsibility to demand so in their various partnerships and relations with Turkey;
  • strongly urges the European institutions to call on Turkey to carry out the European Court judgments and to review all decisions for dismissal of Turkish judges or prosecutors since 15 July 2016 and all pre-trial detention orders and criminal convictions regarding membership of an illegal organization.

Reports on torture and ill-treatment in Turkey

The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of the Council of Europe has recently published two reports on Turkey. The Platform for an Independent Judiciary in Turkey believes these observations support its repeated warnings against the ill-treatment of imprisoned Turkish judges and prosecutors. It therefore appeals to the Turkish authorities, the European Commission and the Council of Europe with reconfirmed determination in this official statement.

Turkey – four years of dismantlement of the rule of law

Four years ago, on July 15th 2016, a failed coup d’état in Turkey set in motion an unprecedented and orchestrated campaign to destroy the Rule of Law and the independence of the Judiciary. Today, Platform for the independence of the judiciary in Turkey reaffirms its solidarity and support to all those judges, prosecutors and lawyers in Turkey that are truly independent and are engaged in the struggle for a free judiciary and the return of the rule of law in Turkey.

Continue reading Turkey – four years of dismantlement of the rule of law