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ALERT/ Failed Coup in Turkey : Uphold Respect for Human Rights !

EuroMed Rights strongly condemns the attempted coup d’état by a section of the military in Turkey, staged on July 15, during which hundreds of civilians, soldiers and police officers lost their lives.

We state that nothing can justify a military coup. Those who are perpetrators and responsible for this attempt must be brought to justice. There is need for an independent, thorough and speedy investigation.

However, the coup attempt should not be a pretext for the Turkish authorities to weaken the mechanisms of democracy, to strengthen the current authoritarianism and to further weaken the situation of migrants on its territory. We are concerned about the indiscriminate retaliation of the government, on the one hand against military and judicial personnel, with the hasty arrest of more than 6,000 people allegedly involved in the coup, and on the other hand against journalists and critical voices within Turkey’s civil society. The discussion over the reintroduction of the death penalty for alleged coup plotters is another source of concern for the future of human rights in Turkey.

This attempt comes in a context of serious democratic violations by constitutional authorities of Turkey: muzzled press, parliamentary opposition about to be stripped of its immunity and threatened with prosecution, criminalisation of dissent, plans to concentrate the power in the hands of the president, willingness to turn religion as a weapon of government and indiscriminate repression in the east, without any opening for negotiation.

EuroMed Rights expresses support for men and women in Turkey who are leading the struggle for the respect of rights and freedoms and the end of armed conflict.

EuroMed Rights closely follows the situation in Turkey and is in constant contact with its member organisations.

We call on the European Union and its member states to exercise extreme vigilance on the respect for rights and freedoms in Turkey and on to uphold respect for human rights every occasion.