ASPS Condemns Arbitrary Arrests of Civil Society Activists in Turkey

 

Political scientists from Europe and North Africa, meeting in Strasbourg during 2018 World Forum for Democracy, have called on Turkey to halt secret investigations into a number of academics and human rights campaigners who were detained last week and then conditionally released on the basis of undisclosed allegations dating back to 2013.

The Association of Schools of Political Studies of the Council of Europe (ASPS), which groups 21 Schools in Eastern and Southern Europe and North Africa, condemned the witch-hunt against civil society representatives, including their colleague Hakan Altinay, who heads the Turkish School.

Nils Muiznieks, former Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, who was elected President of the ASPS this week in Strasbourg, said “these arbitrary arrests, which represent a blatant attempt to silence civil society are totally unacceptable in a democratic society.”

“I call on the authorities in Turkey to respect fully the human rights and rule of law obligations to which Turkey is legally committed as a member of the Council of Europe” he added.