Turkey suspends human rights convention after failed coup

By Ali Kemal Akan

ANKARA

Turkey announced Thursday that it will suspend the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) after declaring a state of emergency in the wake of last Friday's failed coup.

"The implementation of the state of emergency does not contradict with the ECHR," Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told Anadolu Agency.

Kurtulmus said Turkey informed the Council of Europe about suspending its obligations under article 15 of the convention.

According to article 15, in time of war or other public emergency threatening the life of the nation, a state "may take measures derogating from its obligations under the convention to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation".

Erdogan Iscan, Turkey’s permanent representative to the Council of Europe, pronounced the suspension to Council of Europe.

The Council of Europe also said in a statement that its secretary general, Thorbjorn Jagland, was informed by Turkish authorities that the country would be notifying its derogation from the convention.

"The possibility of a derogation is foreseen by Article 15 of the convention in times of public emergency threatening the life of a nation and has been used in the past by other member states, most recently by France and by Ukraine," it said.

The council said there can be no derogation from the following articles: Article 2 (Right to life), Article 3 (Prohibition of torture and inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment), Article 4 para. 1 (prohibition of slavery), and Article 7 (No punishment without law).

"It is important to note that the European Convention on Human Rights will continue to apply in Turkey," the statement added.

Turkey's parliament ratified a motion for a three-month state of emergency by a vote of 346 for, 115 against on Thursday.

The move came after last Friday's deadly coup attempt, which martyred at least 246 people and injured more than 1,530 others.

Turkey's government has said the attempted coup was organized by followers of U.S.-based cleric Fetullah Gulen, who is accused of a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through infiltrating into Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, forming a ‘parallel state’.

* Diyar Guldogan contributed to this report from Ankara.