In the biggest sweep since the referendum on presidential powers, those arrested were accused of being “secret imams” for the American-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.
Security General Directorate has announced that 9,103 law enforcement staff members have been suspended due to having a connection to the FETÖ/PDY. In operations all over the country, over a thousand police officers have been taken into custody.
Turkish Strikes Target Kurdish Allies of U.S. in Iraq and Syria
Kurdish officials said that one Turkish airstrike mistakenly struck Kurdish pesh merga troops on Mount Sinjar in northwestern Iraq, killing at least five.
Pace votes to restart monitoring Turkey, a process it had relaxed in 2004, triggering furious reaction from Ankara
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe decided Tuesday to put Turkey on its watch list until “serious concerns” about respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law “are addressed in a satisfactory manner”. The assembly’s decision was passed with 113 votes against 45 and marks the first time Turkey will be monitored since 2004. The Council has limited enforcement powers over its 47 member states.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned Turkey on April 27 that it must fully respect legal due process, as Ankara continues to make mass arrests after the July 2016 failed coup attempt.
The Council of Europe has restarted full monitoring of Turkey after 13 years. In future two observers will travel to the country on a regular basis to assess adherence to the rule of law and human rights. This is the result of Ankara’s increasingly authoritarian course, oppositional Turkish media conclude, while the pro-government press sees other reasons for the decision.
The Council of Europe has voted to reopen its monitoring procedure against Turkey. The decision deals another potentially fatal blow to Ankara’s EU membership hopes, as exiting the process was made a precondition of negotiations back in 2004.
Air strikes in Syria and Iraq kill about two dozen fighters from two Kurdish groups.
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