ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey has to follow up on the judgements issued by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and implement them, including the top court’s ruling which calls for the immediate release of prominent Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas, an official from the European Commission told Rudaw on Wednesday.
“The Commission has repeated numerous times that Türkiye should implement the ECtHR judgments as a matter of priority. This includes the judgments ruling in favour of the immediate release of Mr. [Selahattin] Demirtaş, Osman Kavala, and others,” said the official in response to an email.
“The need for Turkiye to follow up on ECtHR judgments is indeed one of the core recommendations of the Commission in its regular Enlargement reports for many years,” added the official, mentioning the Commission recommends Turkey does in its bid to join the union.
Accession negotiations were frozen in 2018 and later came to a standstill due to Turkey’s alleged setbacks in democracy and human rights. Ankara has not officially ended efforts to join the union and formally remains a candidate.
Turkey’s failure to respect ECHR’s rulings regarding political figures has upset European leaders, especially the cases of Demirtas and Kavala.
Demirtas has been in jail since 2016 for alleged role in 2014 deadly protests in support of Syrian Kurds, and Kavala has been accused of leading the 2013 Gezi Park protests, which turned into widespread anti-government demonstrations.
The ECHR ruled on July 8 that Demirtas must be released immediately. Turkey appealed the ruling, but the court upheld its decision in the final verdict. The ruling has arrived at the 22nd Criminal Chamber of the Ankara Regional Court of Appeal for review.
Many influential politicians in Turkey, including some who were once at odds with Demirtas, have called for his release. Some believe that the ongoing peace talks between Ankara and the Kurdish rebels could work in Demirtas’s favor.
Niyaz Mustafa contributed to this article.