A HDP delegation met with officials from the Committee for the Prevention of Torture and the Council of Europe (CoE) Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland.

HDP Deputy Co-chair for Foreign Relations and PACE United Left Deputy Chair Hisyar Ozsoy, Feleknas Uca, PACE Substitute Deputy Pero Dundar and HDP Council of Europe Representative Faik Yagiz were present in the meeting with Jagland while Ozsoy and Uca also met with the CPT.

THE IMRALI ISOLATION DISCUSSED

In their meeting with the CPT, the HDP delegation said the isolation imposed upon Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Ocalan must end completely.

The delegation said they believe CPT’s visits to several prisons in Turkey and Kurdistan, including the Imrali prison, on May 6 to 17 was important but there needs to be an insistent and consistent follow-up is needed in order to end the problems detected by the CPT during these visits.

The CPT is preparing a report on the prisons they visited and they will be submitting the report to Ankara first, and to CoE officials afterwards.

JAGLAND: THE KURDISH ISSUE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT

The HDP delegation discussed the solution to the Kurdish issue, the pressure against the HDP, the issue of the tens of thousands of political prisoners in Turkey, Ankara’s approach to ECHR rulings and in this context the CoE’s approach to their relationship with Turkey in the meeting they had with CoE Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland.

Jagland said the Kurdish issue entering a path to a solution is one of the most important issues on the agenda for the Council of Europe and that they will be monitoring the matter more closely in the future.

COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS TO VISIT TURKEY

CoE Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic will be visiting Turkey next week for extensive meetings.

NEW RAPPORTEUR FOR TURKEY

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Rapporteur for Turkey, Estonian social democratic MEP Marianne Mikko lost the elections in her country, and was replaced by former CoE Commissioner for Human Rights Tomas Hammerberg who was elected to the PACE from Sweden. With this, a rapporteur with expertise on Turkey’s case has been appointed.