Free Republic

Former ECHR Judge and CHP Izmir MP Riza Turmen stressed that Turkey is obliged to comply with the ECHR’s Demirtas ruling. Former ECHR Judge and CHP (Republican People's Party) Izmir MP Riza Turmen stressed that Turkey is obliged to comply with the ECHR’s Demirtas ruling. Riza Turmen called for compliance with the European Court of Human Rights ruling and stressed that Selahattin Demirtas should be released without delays. Turmen stated that noncompliance with the ruling, which references Article 18 of the European Convention on Human Rights and poses a precedent for other political prisoners, will be the confirmation that Demirtas’s...

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday said that Turkey is not bound by verdicts of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) following the court’s decision calling for the release of Kurdish leader Selahattin Demirtaş from a lengthy pre-trial detention. “ECtHR decisions do not bind us. Up until now, most of the decisions about the organization [Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)] have been negative. There is a lot to be done in reaction [to the verdict]. We will take steps in response and finish the case. Terrorism continues,” Erdoğan said in parliament after the ruling. The ECtHR on Tuesday urged Turkey...

Turkish policy in Syria, where Ankara stands accused of aiding militants like the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) group, is likely to change under a new government, the co-chair of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) said. The comments by Selahattin Demirtas follow a stunning upset in Sunday’s general elections in Turkey, where the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in 13 years and is mulling the idea of a coalition government. "Coalition governments will not be able to continue to support groups like ISIL and other extremist groups in Syria," he said in...