Minister Fidan on 'Kavala-Demirtaş': 'The response to a politicized case will also be political'

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs budget was discussed and approved at the Parliamentary Planning and Budget Committee.

During the discussions, CHP and HEDEP deputies argued that Turkey's failure to implement the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rulings on human rights violations regarding Kavala and Demirtaş would lead to Turkey's withdrawal from the Council of Europe.

''COME TO US WITH PRINCIPLES, COME WITH STANDARDS''

Minister Fidan's statements on the 'political case' are as follows:

“These cases were politicized in European capitals even before they reached the court; they ceased to be legal and technical cases and moved toward becoming a party to domestic politics in Turkey. In other words, if you politicize this and step outside the law, the response you receive from here will be of the same nature. Why are you surprised by this? If an issue begins with protests on the streets of Berlin before it even reaches the European Court of Human Rights, and if deputies in certain European parliaments are organized to adopt that case and use it as political pressure on Turkey, then that becomes a problem. There are many issues where the same case was tried and a violation ruling was issued, and Turkey implemented it. Our former Minister of Justice, Mr. Gül, is here; we spoke with him many times when I was in my previous position. There is no problem there, but the response to a case that someone has politicized will also be political. There is no error in this. When we said this, they understood. Come to us with principles, come with standards, do not politicize it; when you politicize it, you become a part of the internal political competition and struggle in Turkey.”

''DO NOT POLITICIZE THE CASES''

Fidan continued:

“Do not politicize the cases; you politicize them with your parliaments before they reach the court in your capitals and use them as a tool of pressure on the country. Which country changes its own legal sphere because another country pressured it? No one changes it, there is no such thing. But if you come to me technically through the court I belong to, if you come legally, there is a space for dialogue there, and we can reach a conclusion. But you come to me before that with your newspaper headlines, the meetings you organize, groups of deputies, and the panels you hold; you take a political stance, and in return, you find a political stance. Then, you reinforce in my eyes that you are using that court as a political tool; when the two become intertwined.”

News Source: 12punto