The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe (CoE) will investigate claims of rights violations caused by emergency rule in Turkey and will examine whether government decrees comply with European norms, the Hurriyet daily reported on Sunday.
When the Justice and Development Party (AKP) expanded a massive crackdown and purges to target more segments of society, including critics and opponents, it garnered intense international attention, including that of the CoE.
The Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) requested that the Venice Commission provide an opinion on “the overall compatibility of the implementation of the state of emergency in Turkey, in particular all subsequent decree-laws, with the Council of Europe standards,” a note on the CoE website says.
Nils Muiznieks, the CoE’s commissioner for human rights, had previously warned Turkey about the large number of lawsuits involving Turkey at the European Court of Human Rights, criticizing the overreach of decrees.