CoE says will pay close attention to human rights situation in Turkey after protest in Strasbourg

Hundreds of activists, joined by the former leader of the UK’s Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn and EU parliamentarians, gathered in front of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg on June 24 to protest rights violations in Turkey and ask the ECtHR and CoE to take swift action against them.

The Peaceful Actions Platform submitted two letters to the Council of Europe, one addressed to CoE Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović and the other to Secretary-General Burić. The platform also submitted a letter to the ECtHR.

Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement since the corruption investigations of Decc 17–25, 2013, which implicated then-prime minister Erdoğan, his family members and his inner circle.

Dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan designated the movement as a terrorist organization and began to target its members. He intensified the crackdown on the movement following the abortive putsch that he accused Gülen of masterminding.