Opposition Reacts Against A Declaration By Pace

STRASBOURG/ANKARA - Deputies from Turkish opposition parties, who are also members of Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE), said on Thursday that issuance of a written declaration by PACE about closure case against ruling Justice & Development (AK) Party was unacceptable.
The case is currently under consideration by the Constitutional Court.
Republican People`s Party MP Birgen Keles, as well as Nationalist Movement Party deputies Tugrul Turkes and Ertugrul Kumcuoglu held a press conference in Strasbourg regarding the news stories in the mass media stating that "PACE is about to release a declaration (reacting against the case) and PACE President Luís Maria de Puig will soon be invited to visit Turkey".
Keles said that on the contrary to the claims, Turkish delegation did not asked PACE to release such a declaration. Keles said that it was wrong to ask for support of other states and international institutions regarding a case which was before the (Turkish) Constitutional Court.
Turkes said that any declaration which would be released by PACE could be perceived as an intervention in the functioning of independent jurisdiction (in Turkey).
Turkes said, "we found it unacceptable to complain about problems of Turkey to foreign institutions and to ask for their support regarding our domestic matters."
Democratic Left Party (DSP) chairman Zeki Sezer, who also held a press conference in Ankara, said that this issue deeply hurt DSP and Turkish nation.
Sezer said that this situation was against the laws about a pending case as well as basic principles of Council of Europe and EU.
(GC-ULG)