Dear President, Dear Commissioners
The ETUC has, in the last 7 months, several times expressed its deepest concerns, directly with you, or indirectly, about the most recent developments taking place in Turkey. It is my pleasure to send you hereby a copy of the “Memorandum on the evolution of the situation regarding human and trade union rights in Turkey, after the installment of the state of emergency” which the ETUC just released.
The Memorandum shows that, sadly, the 21 Decrees adopted by the Turkish authorities since 15 July 2016 in the framework of the State of Emergency breach clearly not only International instruments (ILO Conventions; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights -ICCPR and the International Covenant of the United Nations on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – ICESCR) but also the European Convention on Human Rights [ECHR] and the European Social Charter (revised). Those decrees violate the principles of legality, proportionality and necessity, due process guarantees and the presumption of innocence.
More concretely, as you will read it, end 2016, five months after the failed coup – which the ETUC clearly condemned – : more than 125,000 public servants, other workers and citizens have been dismissed or suspended from their jobs without any prior investigation/proofs; legal action have been taken against 92,607 suspects, 39,378 of whom have so far been arrested without any ; 166 media outlets were shut down, over 140 journalists were arrested; elected parliamentarians of the HDP have been imprisoned; 43 trustees have been appointed in the 103 municipalities won by the BDP at the last local elections of 30 March 2014 in the South-eastern Anatolia Region; credible evidence has been gathered that detainees in Turkey are being subjected to beatings and torture, including rape, in official and unofficial detention centres in the country; lawful strikes have been suspended – de facto banned; thousands of trade unionists have been intimidated, suspended, sacked, or put in jail….etc. Just a concrete latest example: on 11 February 2017, the Chairman of a Turkish union, who has been campaigning to reject the proposed constitutional reform in the upcoming April referendum, was shot at in Ankara – he escaped without injury, but his driver was taken to hospital.
Also, really worrying are the proposed amendments to the Turkish Constitution. Indeed, as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe stressed it in its Statement on 26 January, “would the revised constitution – which will grant extensive powers to the President of the Republic – guarantee the separation of powers, proper checks and balances and the independence of the judiciary, which are a prerequisite for democratic societies?”.
Despite dozens of messages send by numerous International authorities and institutions (ILO, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression…), European (Council of Europe for Human Rights, European Commission, European Parliament, PACE, Venice Commission,…) and Turkish institutions (EU-TR Joint Consultative Committee JCC), trade unions (ITUC – ETUC and their 4 Turkish members, several of their sectorial federations, the International Centre for Trade Union Rights, ..) and NGO’s (Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Committee to Protect Journalists….), we don’t see, beginning of March, the Turkish authorities curbing certain excesses of the state of emergency. In fact, many observers believe the situation could get EVEN WORSE after the referendum on April 16.
It is against that background that the ETUC, in a Statement adopted unanimously by the Executive Committee, “urged the Commission, as well as Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Council President, to send a clear, powerful but constructive message to the Turkish government condemning the upsurge in violations of fundamental rights and freedoms over the last months, pleading for a return to respect for the rule of law, democracy and justice and calling on Turkey, as an EU candidate country, to comply with European Charters and Conventions”. The measures taken after the attempted coup should further strengthen democracy, civil rights and social cohesion, respecting universal fundamental rights, the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law.
Yours sincerely,
Luca Visentini
ETUC General Secretary
To read the full memorandum, please click here.