France calls on Turkey to respect law in crackdown

France has called on Turkish authorities to abide by the rule of law and respect basic rights as they carry on a crackdown in the wake of an abortive July coup.

Speaking in a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara on Monday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said, “Turkey has every right to defend and protect itself, and it is Ankara’s decision to extend the state of emergency,” referring to the measure taken in the wake of the coup.

He stressed, however, that Turkey must commit itself to acting within the rule of law as the post-coup state of emergency is being implemented.

“We must reiterate our attachment to the rule of law, to fundamental rights, the right for all to benefit from a fair trial and to defend these rights with the support of lawyers,” Ayrault said.

The French foreign minister then seemed to make his Turkish hosts uncomfortable by suggesting that there were differences between the state of emergency in Turkey and the one in France, which took effect in the aftermath of attacks in and around Paris in November 2015.

“In France, the state of emergency does not allow for the transfer of legislative power to the executive. Parliament retains all powers of lawmaking and the independence of the judiciary is guaranteed fully,” Ayrault said.

Cavusoglu wasted no time to hit back.

“For us, there is no difference between Turkey’s state of emergency and France’s state of emergency. Their scope and objectives are the same: targeting terrorist organizations,” the Turkish diplomat said as soon as it was his turn to speak.

EA