Tuğrul Türkeş criticizes remarks on Turkey's ECHR commitment

Tuğrul Türkeş, head of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Turkish Delegation and AKP MP, has criticized comments made by Presidential Advisor Mehmet Uçum regarding the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and Osman Kavala. Türkeş described the suggestion that Turkey might reconsider its membership in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) or its commitment to individual applications to the ECHR as “absurd.” He emphasized the importance of Turkey’s relationship with the Council of Europe and argued that legal matters, including the Kavala case, should be resolved within existing legal frameworks.

Separately, Mehmet Uçum commented on the legislative support for the Law on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration. Uçum noted that the law received 467 votes in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, describing this level of political support as an unprecedented “Great Turkey Consensus.”