The Council of Europe represents for Turkey the first institutional tie established with Europe after World War II. Turkey was invited to the organization just after its foundation together with Greece and Iceland in August 1949 and is regarded as a founding member.
During the establishment and development stages of the organization, Turkey carried out efforts in order to take Europe out of the post-war psychology as well as to achieve reunification. In this regard for instance, Turkey supported the accession of the Federal Republic of Germany and Austria to the Council of Europe following World War II.
In the 1950’s, due to the political fragmentation on the continent, the Council of Europe served as a cooperation forum for the limited number of democracies in a Cold War environment. Turkey, as one of these democracies, participated in the efforts of the Council of Europe and contributed to the European integration both at intergovernmental and parliamentary platforms. Since its foundation, Turkish deputies have participated in the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe and have contributed to several debates on the construction of Europe, common European identity and vision.
During the Cold War, military interventions in Turkey had negative effects on its position among European democracies.
After the end of the Cold War, Turkey assumed in 1992 the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers. Turkish Chairmanship made a substantial contribution to the organization’s opening and cooperation process initiated for former Eastern bloc including countries of Central Asia.
The comprehensive reform process accelerated in the late 1990s in Turkey directly affected relations with the Council of Europe. Comprehensive constitutional amendments and reform packages were adopted; Civil Law and Turkish Penal Code were amended in Turkey. In this context, significant progress was achieved in cooperation with the Council of Europe in areas such as the abolition of death penalty, fight against torture, reform of prisons and detention houses, freedom of thought and expression, freedom of association and reunion, freedom of religion, functioning of the judiciary, civil-military relations, economic, social and cultural rights, fighting against corruption, and this has strengthened Turkey’s position in the Council of Europe. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) decided to close the monitoring procedure with respect to Turkey in 2004 as a result of reforms realized especially in the early 2000’s.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) constitutes another important dimension of Turkey’s cooperation with the Council of Europe. As stipulated in the Article 90 of the Turkish constitution, the jurisdiction of ECtHR prevails domestic legislation (In case of a conflict between international agreements in the area of fundamental rights and freedoms duly put into effect and the domestic laws, due to differences in provisions on the same matter, the provisions of international agreements shall prevail) Turkey’s legal system is constantly improving in coordination with the case law of the ECtHR which is shaped by 47 member-states and authorized by European Convention on Human Rights.
In this context, not only the ECtHR’s decisions on Turkey, but also decisions related to other member states are taken into consideration and reflected into the Turkish legislation, if necessary.
Turkey closely cooperates with the monitoring mechanisms of the organization on racism and discrimination, torture, corruption, money laundering, prevention of violence against women and other areas. Several visits take place between Turkish officials and the Secretariat of the Council of Europe. Turkish nationals working in the Secretariat as well as temporarily appointed officials from Turkish institutions to the Council of Europe constitute another important dimension of our relations.
Turkey has become party to approximately half of the 212 Council of Europe’s conventions. The work carried out in recent years in order to prepare necessary legislation, accede to international conventions and implement reforms has contributed positively to the findings of the monitoring mechanisms of the Council of Europe about Turkey.
Within the joint projects realized in cooperation with the Council of Europe, comprehensive information, heightened awareness and educational activities are carried out in related topics by Ministries as well as supreme judicial authorities for public officials, non-governmental organizations, students, individuals and society in general.
Turkey’s relations with the Council of Europe have culminated in success in the last few years. During the winter 2010 session of the Assembly, the Chairman of the Turkish Delegation to PACE, Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu was elected by acclamation as the President of the Parliamentary Assembly for 2 years. Turkey assumed the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 10 November 2010 and handed it over to Ukraine on 11 May 2011.
In assuming the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers on 10 November 2010, Turkey had taken on this responsibility for the seventh time since the foundation of the Council of Europe. The main aim of the Turkish Chairmanship was reinforcing the political role, visibility and relevance of the Council of Europe. Accordingly, the Turkish Chairmanship set its priorities in five fields: the reform of the Council of Europe, securing the long-term effectiveness of the European Court of Human Rights, strengthening the independent monitoring mechanisms of the Council of Europe, facilitating the EU’s accession to the European Convention on Human Rights and addressing the challenges of multicultural European societies.
The Turkish Chairmanship undertook initiatives and organized several events in order to display the comparative advantage of the Council of Europe in the fields of standard-setting and effective monitoring through a variety of specialized mechanisms. Turkey also made a financial contribution of 605.000 Euros to support the activities of the Council of Europe and finance specific projects to be carried out by its specialized bodies and mechanisms.
The Turkish Chairmanship continued to lend support to the standard-setting work, notably through the adoption of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. In this regard, the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu signed the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence together with 13 other member states at the 121st meeting of the Committee of Ministers held in Istanbul on 11 May 2011.
The political agenda of the organization was loaded during the Turkish Chairmanship. The recent developments in North Africa and the Middle East called for a rapid reaction of the Organization as well as a thorough review of Council of Europe’s relations with neighboring regions. The Turkish Chairmanship, convinced of the relevance of the Council of Europe’s values and counting on its expertise, offered assistance to these countries in establishing a democratic transition process. In this framework, the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, in his capacity as Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers, visited Tunisia in February 2011, together with H.E. Mr. Thorbjorn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe.