Text Box: Turkey and the Council of Europe

Turkey and the Council of Europe

Key points

  • Turkey became the 12th member of the Council of Europe on 9 August 1949.
  • Turkey has ratified 98 conventions of the Council of Europe and has signed another 40 which it has not yet ratified.
  • Turkey ratified the European Convention on Human Rights on 18 May 1954.
  • Turkey took over the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for the six-month period (10 November 2010 - 11 May 2011) .

Summary

The key objectives of the Council of Europe, the oldest pan-European organisation, are the protection of human rights, the rule of law and democracy, and the defence of a common cultural heritage.  Besides these principal aims, the organisation endeavors to find solutions to problems related to intolerance, xenophobia, social exclusion, environment and social security. The Council of Europe has 47 member states. It created more than 200 conventions, many of which have become national law across the continent.

Considered as a founding member of the Council of Europe which has a significant political role in the European architecture, Turkey has taken an active part in all activities of the organisation for the past 61 years.

The decision-making body of the organisation, the Committee of Ministers, comprises the Ministers of Foreign Affairs or their Permanent Representatives, who are usually ambassadors based in Strasbourg. Each minister chairs the Committee for six-months with a handover of the chairmanship in May and November. The rotation is based on the alphabetical order of country names in English. Currently, foreign minister Ahmed Davutoğlu represents Turkey in the Committee of Ministers. Ambassador Daryal Batıbay is the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the Council of Europe since March 2004. On 10 November 2010 Turkey took ower the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, for a six-month period.

Turkey presented five headings as priorities of its chairmanship:

·         Reform of the Council of Europe,

·         Reform of the European Court of Human Rights,

·         Strengthening the independent monitoring mechanisms,

·         Accession of the EU to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR),

·         Challenges of Multicultural European Societies.

The Committee of Ministers adopts conventions and makes recommendations to the member states and supervises the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. In collaboration with the Parliamentary Assembly, it is the guardian of the Council’s fundamental values, and monitors member states’ compliance with their undertakings.

After their adoption by the Committee of Ministers, conventions are opened for signature by states which must ratify them in order for them to become legally binding. The last treaty that Turkey ratified was the Protocol No. 14 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, amending the control system of the Convention.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is composed of representatives coming from national parliaments of the 47 member states. The texts adopted by PACE – recommendations, resolutions and opinions – serve as guidelines for the Committee of Ministers, national governments, parliaments and political parties. There are four PACE sessions a year, each lasting one week.

On 24 January 2011, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (EDG) was re-elected President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly. Turkey is represented in the Parliamentary Assembly by a delegation of 12 representatives and 12 substitutes. Currently, Erol Aslan Cebeci (EPP/CD) is the head of the delegation. Turkish members of PACE are elected among parliamentarians of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.

Turkey is represented in the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe by a delegation of 12 representatives and 12 substitutes. Currently, Gaye Doğanoğlu (EPP/CD) is the head of delegation. She is also Vice-President of the Congress and Vice-President of the Chamber of Local Authorities.

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe – currently Thorbjørn Jagland from Norway – is elected for a period of five years and is responsible for strategic planning, management of the programme of activities and the budget of the organisation. The Council of Europe’s budget for 2010 amounts to € 218 million. Turkey’s  contribution is 7.845.143 Euros, corresponding to 3,71% of the total.

The European Court of Human Rights’ role is to ensure that states which have ratified the European Convention on Human rights, i.e. all member states, observe their obligations. It’s aim is to guarantee the respect by member countries of the basic human rights and freedoms enshrined in the Convention. It examines complaints lodged by individuals or states and where it finds that a member state has violated any right, it delivers a binding judgment. The Court is composed of 47 judges, each elected by PACE with respect to a member state. The judge elected with respect to Turkey is Işıl Karakaş, who started her mandate in May 2008. The European Convention on Human Rights which was opened to signature in Rome on 4 November 1950, was signed by Turkey that day and ratified on 18 May 1954.

On 31 December 2010, there were 15.200 pending allocated applications against Turkey before the Court (10,9 % of all the pending cases. The Court faces an overload of cases – 139.650 cases pending by 31 December 2010 – which is affecting its effectiveness. (Additional information is available at the ECHR website).

Several independent bodies of the Council of Europe monitor compliance of member states with the human rights standards of the organisation.

The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) visits places of detention (e.g. prisons and juvenile detention centres, police stations, holding centres for immigration detainees and psychiatric hospitals), to see how persons deprived of their liberty are treated, and, if necessary, to recommend improvements to the states. Its members are independent experts. The Turkish member, Yakin Ertürk is Professor of sociology at the Middle East Technical University. She is a former UN Special Reporter on violence against women.

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) combats racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and intolerance. ECRI’s action covers all measures necessary to fight violence, discrimination and prejudice on the grounds of race, colour, language, religion and national or ethnic origin. Since 1996, Gün Kut, lecturer of international relations, foreign policy, and diplomatic history at Boğaziçi University, is the current Turkish member of ECRI.

Contact

Council of Europe Press Service

Tel : +33 (0)3 88 41 25 60

Fax : +33(0)3 88 41 39 11

[email protected]

www.coe.int

 

Updated 18.03.2011