Hatimoğulları is accompanied by Berdan Öztürk, Co-Spokesperson of the Foreign Relations Commission, Party Spokesperson Ayşegül Doğan, Deputy Co-Chair for Relations with Political Parties and NGOs Özlem Gündüz and former MP Hişyar Özsoy.

In her speech at the PACE Left Group meeting in Strasbourg on Monday, Tülay Hatimoğulları touched upon many issues, including the isolation of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan in İmralı Prison, the ECtHR rulings on imprisoned politicians, the Kurdish question and developments in the Middle East.

Stating that the PACE Left Group has always been in solidarity with the DEM Party, Tülay Hatimoğulları said: “The ECtHR judgements on Selahattin Demirtaş, Figen Yüksekdağ, Osman Kavala and Can Atalay have not been implemented until today. Similar problems continue on many issues. There is a failure to fulfil the duty in these matters. The failure to fulfil the requirements of the convention continues to increase.”

DEM Party co-chair continued: “The authoritarian state of the current government in Turkey has an ever-worsening record in terms of human rights violations. Problems in prisons continue to increase. Prisons have almost turned into houses of torture. The aggravated isolation of Mr Öcalan in İmralı continues. Mr Öcalan has not been allowed to meet with his family or lawyers for nearly four years. This situation is against both the international conventions to which Turkey is a party and its own constitution.

It is also spoken by the organisations here. The ‘Right to Hope’ should be implemented. However, there is a government in Turkey that wants the Kurdish question, which closely concerns and affects Turkey and indeed the Middle East, to remain unsolved and the conflict to continue. We sincerely believe in this. If the Kurdish question is solved peacefully and democratically, this will make a great contribution to the democratisation of Turkey. It will also make a significant contribution to peace in the Middle East. Our most important demand from the Council of Europe is to create more serious pressure on Turkey on this issue, especially the ECtHR judgements. The establishment of this pressure will also make an important contribution to the democratic basis of the people living in the country. The steps to be taken by the Council of Europe on this issue are important. We believe that Erdogan is being treated too concessionally in terms of human rights violations due to his constant use of the migrant card against European countries. It is also important that this should be abandoned. In this respect, it is crucial that the European Parliament and the Council of Europe act in accordance with their own organisational and ethical values and principles. We have always felt the solidarity of the Left Group in this matter.”

The DEM Party delegation will also hold various meetings with officials and politicians of the Council of Europe.