The establishment of a commission that will hear complaints from people who have been affected by emergency rule that was declared in the aftermath of a failed coup attempt in Turkey on July 15 may be finalized in July, according to Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ.
Turkey experienced a military coup attempt on July 15 that killed over 240 people and wounded more than a thousand others. Immediately after the putsch, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government along with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement despite the lack of any evidence to that effect.
Over 135,000 people, including thousands within the military, have been purged due to their real or alleged connection to the Gülen movement since the coup attempt.
Thousands of people who have been affected by the post-coup purge in Turkey have petitioned the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) due to violation of their rights.
Since January, the Turkish government has been saying that the commission would be established within a month upon insistent calls from the Council of Europe (CoE); however, Justice Minister Bozdağ reportedly told CoE officials in Strasbourg recently that the government is trying to have the commission established on the first anniversary of the coup attempt in July.
Last month, CoE Secretary-General Thorbjørn Jagland called on Turkish authorities to ensure that the commission that will be set up to hear complaints from people who have been affected by Turkey’s post-coup purge should work independently and on the basis of ECHtR case law.
“It is imperative for Turkey and Europe that the judicial safeguards for all those who have been dismissed or are in prison are based on the European Convention on Human Rights [ECHR] and on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights,” Jagland said in a press statement following a meeting with Bozdağ in Strasbourg in early March.