In a controversial report adopted in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Tuesday, members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist organization in the EU, the US and Turkey, were described as “activists.”

With a last-minute amendment on the floor, the section of the report, drafted by French socialist deputy Josette Durrieu, was changed to describe PKK members as “activists” rather than terrorists or militants. The change of description stands in sharp contrast with the earlier reports, decisions, declarations and recommendations adopted by the Council of Europe's institutions, including PACE, the Secretariat and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

While it welcomed the Turkish government's months-long talks with the imprisoned leader of the PKK to pave the way for the terrorist organization to lay down its arms, the report said, “The Assembly is aware that the process is fragile and should be accompanied by the withdrawal of the PKK activists from Turkey.”

The original draft resolution did not refer to the PKK armed members as “activists.” Only in the explanatory note included by Durrieu, which was not part of the resolution, were PKK militants described as “activists.” But the amendment supported by Durrieu on the floor carried that description into the resolution as well.

Nursuna Memecan, the chairwoman of the Turkish delegation to PACE, was highly critical of the term. “It is difficult to understand why the report refrains from using the term ‘terrorist' for members of the terrorist organization PKK -- which is recognized as a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States -- and the term ‘PKK militant' is replaced with ‘PKK activists'-- a term accorded to individuals who prefer to limit their methods to peaceful ones,” she explained.

“We highly regret that such a biased approach toward an internationally recognized terrorist organization takes place in a post-monitoring dialogue process report of the Parliamentary Assembly,” she added.

The amendment classifying PKK terrorists as activists, tabled by the Monitoring Committee of PACE, was adopted with 152 to 16 votes and 11 abstaining. Most of the members of the Turkish delegation opposed the change while the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Bursa deputy Tülin Erkal Kara and pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) -- a political wing of the PKK -- Mersin deputy Ertuğrul Kürkçü supported the amendment. AK Party Antalya deputy and former PACE President Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu abstained. Kayseri, İstanbul and Sakarya deputies from the AK Party, Pelin Gündeş Bakır, Nursuna Memecan and Şaban Dişli, respectively, voted against the amendment. Deputies from Turkey's main opposition Republican Peoples' Party (CHP), Deniz Baykal and Haluk Koç, also opposed the amendment.

The Turkish delegation's request for the termination of the post-monitoring dialogue process for Turkey is based on substantial reforms the country has adopted since 2004, when the full monitoring procedure was closed was also rejected by PACE.

The report acknowledged the process of legislative and institutional changes in Turkey, where many reforms have been adopted already, but it said it fell short of what PACE has been asking from the nation.

Durrieu was criticized for exceeding her mandate and stepping out of the framework mentioned in Resolution 1380, which listed only 12 benchmarks that Turkey needed to fulfill to graduate from the post-monitoring process. Leonid Slutsky of the Russian Federation said that Turkey has completed 10 of the 12 benchmarks, and yet the report failed to acknowledge that. Drawing parallels with the Russian process, in which his country fulfilled 21 out 23 benchmarks, Slutsky claimed that the assembly is reinventing the post-monitoring process. “We are discrediting ourselves here,” he remarked.

Turkish deputy Şaban Dişli also criticized Durrieu, saying that she unnecessarily added 259 paragraphs, on 45 pages, as an explanatory note annexed to the resolution. “Most of these paragraphs are not related with the post-monitoring dialogue,” he emphasized.

Memecan has summarized some of Durrieu's “unfair” points under 17 different titles, pointing out her disagreement with the findings and descriptions included in the report. Memecan rejected the rapporteur's suggestion that the AK Party be labeled “Islamo-conservative,” saying that there is no political terminology such as “Islamo-conservative,” and it is unclear where the rapporteur has found evidence for making such claims, thus creating unnecessary confusion.

She also objected to Durrieu's inclusion of a claim suggesting that the Gülen movement has infiltrated the security forces and stated that it is without any substantiated data. “The fact that someone adheres to a given movement, community or association does not disqualify them from becoming a member of the security forces or any public service,” Memecan asserted. Fethullah Gülen, the respected Muslim scholar, was cleared of similar charges in a Turkish court in the past.

During the debate the parliamentarians recognized that Turkey has been undergoing major reforms and hailed Turkey's “very significant economic achievements” in the context of global crisis, pointing out that it has become a regional power and a “benchmark” for less stable Muslim countries in the region.

The resolution welcomes Turkey's progress in many areas, including bringing its legislation into line with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), advancing the ongoing peace process, promoting the cultural and linguistic rights of the Kurds, stepping up dialogue with religious communities and establishing the institution of ombudsman.

But it also spelled out the steps Turkey still needs to take if it is to successfully complete its reform program, such as further reform of the Constitution and the continuing revision of the Criminal Code, as well as progress on freedom of expression, pre-trial detentions, local and regional decentralization and resolving the Kurdish question.
Answer of the Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey to a Question Regarding the Report of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Post-Monitoring Dialogue with Turkey

In its session of April 23, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) debated the report on the post-monitoring dialogue with Turkey, presented by Rapporteur Josette Durrieu (France).

The Resolution contained in the report which was voted by the plenary session of the PACE evaluates the issues covered by the post-monitoring dialogue process, within the framework of the developments made in Turkey in the field of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, the comprehensive reforms realized, the new Constitution and judicial reforms. By the Resolution, it has been decided that, following the next parliamentary and presidential elections, a report be prepared on the post-monitoring dialogue with Turkey.

Turkey’s firm determination shall continue on further improving fundamental rights and freedoms, democratization and the workings of justice.


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