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EP rapporteur: State of emergency turns into pressure tool against Kurds

 

Following Turkish government’s replacement of elected mayors mostly in Kurdish areas of the country on Saturday, Kati Piri, the European Parliament rapporteur on Turkey stated concern and said that the state of emergency has been used against Kurds as a tool of pressure.

Talking to BBC Turkish service before the European Parliament’s session on recent developments in Turkey on Tuesday, Piri said that the EP has been concerned about the detentions and dismissals following the coup attempt of July 15.

Directing attention to the dismissal of over 11 thousand teachers for alleged ties to the PKK, Piri said that there has to be a distinction between people who actually committed a crime and innocent ones.

Piri had tweeted on Saturday on her concerns over Kurds saying that ¨Removal of 24 elected mayors without due process in southeast Turkey causes great concern. State of Emergency broadly applied. ¨

 

According to Piri, Turkey has been giving an impression in the last three years that it has been drifting away from Europe despite formally ongoing membership negotiations.

 

In response to criticisms from the pro-government media and Turkish officials for lack of sympathy for Turkish people in the wake of the foiled coup, Piri engaged in self-criticism and said that initially they underestimated the impact of the coup on the people despite strong condemnation of the coup attempt.

 

Responding the argument that Europe has been supporting the Hizmet movement which is accused of plotting the coup by the Turkish government, Piri said that it was the AK Party which supported and praised the movement in Brussels and other European capitals for years.

 

 

 

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