The end of the state of emergency in place in Turkey since the coup attempt of 2016 is a welcome step. At the same time, we believe the adoption of new legislative proposals granting extraordinary powers to the authorities and retaining several restrictive elements of the state of emergency would dampen any positive effect of its termination.
We reaffirm our expectations that Turkey implements the key recommendations of the Council of Europe, the Venice Commission and other relevant institutions and to respect the separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary.
In view of the termination of the state of emergency we also expect Turkey to follow through and reverse all measures that continue to impact negatively on the rule of law, independence of the judiciary and the fundamental freedoms that are at the core of any democratic state. These include freedom of expression, freedom of association and procedural rights. And we expect Turkey’s derogations from its obligations under the European Convention for Human Rights to cease with the lifting of the state of emergency.
Concrete and lasting improvements in the area of rule of law and fundamental freedoms remain essential to the prospects of EU-Turkey relations.
