By Aida Hovhannisyan from Strasbourg

STRASBOURG. – The situation in Turkey after a failed coup attempt was discussed at PACE’s autumn plenary session on Thursday.

The EU deputies emphasized that Turkey cannot be a democratic country unless the country works on democracy. The delegates urged to adhere to the rule of law and democratic principles.

French delegate Jean-Claude Mignon was very glad that they, including Turkish colleagues, have gathered to discuss the situation in Turkey after the July 16 failed coup attempt. He said that as politicians, they should exclude repressions.

The speakers also expressed concern in relations to the fact that some hours later after coup attempt in Turkey detentions of citizens began because of suspicions of their commitment to the ideology of Gulen. The politicians were surprised to see how Turkish authorities determined who was responsible for the event during such a short period of time.

Michael Jensen said that it was unacceptable that media outlets were being closed, judges were arrested, innocent citizens were detained because of their opposition to the government. Some days ago Cavusoglu spoke about the death penalty, but this should not be allowed, he said.

Representative of the Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party Hisyar Ozsoy gave more details on lack of democracy in Turkey. He noted that after July 16 Turkish authorities closed Kurdish TV companies, including children’s and music programs, and all this was made without any explanations. He emphasized that Turkish authorities were terrorizing people under the pretext of masterminding a coup attempt.

It should be added that a coup attempt occurred in Turkey on July 16, 2016, as a result of which 246 people were killed. After that over 40,000 citizens were detained, 20,000 were arrested and 79,000 were fired. Turkish authorities accuse Fethullah Gülen of organizing a coup attempt.

According to many experts, a coup attempt has been initiated by Turkish President Erdogan to unleash mass repression in the country.