Kati Piri, Rapporteur. – Mr President, sitting in a cell for 17 months without knowing what you are being accused of – that is reality in today’s Turkey. Osman Kavala, a leading figure in Turkey’s civil society, and one of the many victims of President Erdoğan’s witch-hunt against his critics, was arrested in October 2017. Osman and 15 others heard the charges against them last week. They are being held responsible for an attempt to overthrow the government and are facing life imprisonment without parole if found guilty. The 657-page indictment talks of the spontaneous wave of anti-government Gezi protests in 2013, which have now been reframed as an outcome of an international conspiracy to unseat the government. The evidence against Kavala: in some intercepted calls, he is offering to lend a plastic folding table and in another call, he agrees to send some packages of fruit juice and milk. The indictment includes no evidence of Osman or any of the others planning the protest, let alone an uprising. One could have a good laugh about this if it wasn’t so serious. This is the level to which Turkey’s democracy has sunk.
And now, what is the answer of the EU to all of this? What is the answer to blatant human rights violations in our neighbouring country? During the last five years, the European Parliament has taken the lead in not only speaking out, but also asking the Commission and the Council to use all available tools to send a firm signal to President Erdoğan and prevent further backsliding and, on the other hand, to show Turkey’s citizens who adhere to values of freedom, human rights and the rule of law that the EU stands by their side. But so far, our European leaders have bitterly failed in doing so. Turkey has disappeared from our attention. It is no longer in the news, except when EU nationals are concerned. It seems that our government leaders have accepted that the situation in Turkey is as it is. Our calls for respect of fundamental rights have not only fallen on deaf ears in Ankara, but also in EU capitals. The red lines of this House have all been crossed. Severe human rights violations continue. The rule of law has been dismantled. Turkey is the record holder of jailed journalists and on top of that, the new constitution consolidates Erdoğan’s authoritarianism. That is why we asked the Council to formally suspend the accession talks with Turkey. Not that anyone was seriously considering accession under the current circumstances, but continuing talks on EU integration with President Erdoğan is a charade.
We want to hear what the EU will do for Osman Kavala. What will the EU do for Selahattin Demirtaş, the opposition leader who was imprisoned for two and a half years, for the other members of parliament in jail, for the tens of thousands of people who have been jailed without a fair trial, for the LGBTI activists, for the Saturday mothers who are no longer allowed to protest, for the brave Turkish women who, on 8 March, went out on the streets and were met with rubber bullets fired at them by the police?
The silence of the Council is fuelling Erdoğan’s authoritarianism. It is also fuelling the disappointment of Turkey’s democrats. It is time to come up with a strategy. You can start on one this Friday, when you will have a meeting with Turkey’s Foreign Minister.
President, allow me also after these five years, to thank my colleague shadow rapporteurs who have been working on this file for the last five years in good cooperation. I very much hope that tomorrow we will be able to unite this House again and to give a strong signal to our European leaders.