On January 17, 2022, the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Albania with an agenda that included the inauguration of infrastructural works, specifically the apartment complex built in Lac with the funds of the Turkish government, to shelter families affected by the 2019 earthquake that hit Albania, resulting in 51 people dead, over 1000 wounded and 17.000 others displaced. Turkish-funded works included the restoration of 2 schools and a square that, as a sign of gratitude, was named “Recep Tayyip Erdogan”. The “Honorary Citizen” title was awarded to the President of Turkey.

 

In addition, the Turkish President inaugurated the Ethem Bey Mosque in the center of Tirana, a valuable and unique monument of the Ottoman Era in Albania, restored by TIKA (Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency).

 

The plan included strengthening bilateral ties, which was finalized by signing seven cooperation agreements. During the meeting, Turkish President Erdogan and Prime Minister Edi Rama praised the close cooperation between the two countries, especially in economics, culture, law enforcement, etc. According to the latest report on Foreign Trade in Albania, Turkey ranks second after Italy in terms of the value of exchanges, thus making Turkey an important strategic partner.

 

It is worth noting that the meeting was discussed in terms of ‘brotherhood between the countries’. “What I want to emphasize is the principle-belief that the sign of brotherhood is not to come when called, but to come when the brother is in need. Therefore, we will continue to stand by you”, President Erdogan stated.

 

But does this brotherhood come unconditionally? 

 

If we see the continuation of the meeting and the words of the President himself: “It deeply harms our nation that FETO can still operate in … Albania. In the coming period, our sincerest expectation is that more concrete, persistent and swift steps will be taken against FETO structures in Albania,” we can say that the brotherhood comes with a request, if not with a condition.

 

“FETO” is the so-called organization of supporters of the exiled Turkish preacher Fethullah Gülen that Erdogan and his government accused of being a terrorist organization as well as of orchestrating the failed 2016 putsch that killed over 270 people.

“It wounds our nation that had its children martyred that FETO can still find areas of activity in friend and sibling Albania,” Erdogan said.

 

The beginnings of Gülen’s investments started in Albania in 1992 with the opening of the “Mehmet Akif” college for boys, and now it controls the traditional Islamic schools in Albania, known as Turkish madrasas and colleges, as well as operates in different other organizations.

The organization has a significant impact in the Balkans. According to data published by the Turkish Anadolu News Agency, it operates in about 40 schools, including 15 schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 12 in Albania, 7 in Macedonia, 5 in Kosovo, and one in Serbia.

 

The pressure of the Turk government on the Balkan countries in this regard began in 2016. The government stopped the Turkish-owned schools from using Turkey’s flag and other symbols. Since then, Albania has officially refused to act with the Turkish authorities for the hand of most members of the Gülen movement.

 

Moreover, since 2016 Albania has not allowed the takeover of the Gülen-affiliated educational institutions by the Turkish-state-run Maarif Foundation, but the Albanian Government gave permission to Maarif Foundation to open their own schools.

 

About the condition set on January 17, the head of the Albanian government said that Albania owes nothing to Erdogan or Turkey, just as neither Turkey nor Erdogan owe Albania anything. “There are no debts between friends and brothers,” Rama said, thus responding again to Erdogan’s request against the Gülen Movement with refusal. 

 

This meeting was widely discussed in local and foreign media. The local press commented that the conference coincided with the 554th anniversary of the national hero, Gjergj Kastrioti (Skanderbeg), the symbol of Albanian resistance to the occupation of the Ottoman Empire in Albanian territories and beyond throughout the Balkans. Through a lengthy article posted on social networks, Prime Minister Edi Rama reacted by listing some points that, according to him, show that there is no connection between the two events.

 

Opinion leaders and politics analysts in Albanian saw this meeting not as a brotherhood but as a “vassal”. According to them, his expressed brotherhood makes Albania fewer Western-oriented, values ​​that Albania has embraced. This was also commented in the Greek media where earlier, the Penta Postagma had viewed the visit’s purpose to allow Erdogan to unify Greater Albania, which according to the article, he saw as a province of the Great Empire.

 

In conclusion, we can say that Turkey’s involvement in Albania and the Balkans, in general, is part of its larger strategy: It seeks to improve its image as an honest partner through economic and humanitarian aid in the Balkans and draw away attention from the EU. As a medium-long term objective, Turkey aims to increase its influence in Europe, strengthening its hand and presence through continuous debates with the EU.

 

By Xhina Cekani

 

 

Turkish leader Erdogan visits Albania to boost ties – ABC News (go.com)

Turkey’s Erdogan in Albania to boost bilateral ties | The Independent

Erdogan Opens Apartment Complex in Albania for Quake Victims | Balkan Insight

What Did Erdoğan Do In Albania? — Greek City Times

Turkish President Recep Erdogan visits Albania | Foreign Brief

Vizita e Erdogan, Nesho: Rama sillet si vasal, Shq – Syri | Lajmi i fundit

Vizita e Erdogan në Shqipëri, si u komentua në mediat greke – Opinion.al

Turkish President Recep Erdogan visits Albania | Foreign Brief

Rama i përgjigjet ultimatumit të Erdoganit për sulm ndaj Lëvizjes Gulen – Gazeta Express

On 15 July 2016, a failed coup d’état took place in Turkey against President Tayyip Erdogan and state institutions. The disintegration of democratic rule, the threat to human rights, and secularism were among the reasons cited for the coup. The coup attempt was carried out by a small section of the Turkish Armed Forces, who referred to themselves as the ‘Peace at Home Council’. The Turkish government linked the coup plotters to the Gulen movement, which is deemed a terrorist organization by the Turkish government. Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish Islamic scholar, preacher, and one-time opinion leader currently residing in Pennsylvania after a self-imposed exile, led the Gulen movement. Gulen has denied any link to the coup attack. Mass arrests have occurred following the event.

 

At least 20,000 Turkish citizens were detained due to alleged links with the Gulen movement. Turkish officials wanted Gulen’s repatriation; however, the Justice Department and State department found the evidence presented by their Turkish counterparts to be incoherent and non-credible. The detainees included 5,000 members of the educational sector and 21,000 teachers whose licenses were revoked, and national security numbers were added to the Turkish database to restrict future employment. However, evidence to suggest the loyalty of 20,000 citizens to Gulen was weak. Moreover, theories suggested that the coup was staged. After the coup’s first week, thousands of public servants and soldiers were purged. Nonetheless, ‘the list of alleged coup plotters was so extensive that it was impossible to put it together in the hours after the coup’.[1] Individuals who had passed away weeks and months before the coup were part of this list. Suspicion on the quality and honesty of the investigation grew. The United States, German intelligence, and the British Government have doubted the official Turkish narrative.

 

According to the Turkish Government, over 135,000 public servants, including around 40,000 teachers, have been dismissed or suspended since the government resorted to repression after the failed coup in July. No source of income and allegation of connection with a terrorist organization not only entails financial losses but poses threats of ostracism from the Turkish society altogether. The International Labor Organization has denounced the detaining of these individuals and has maintained that this was done without any supervision from the judicial bodies, without proper investigation, and without the ‘principle of presumption of innocence and rights’ accorded by ILO Conventions.[2]

The Turkish government states that the dissolution of the Action Workers’ Union Confederation (Aksiyon-Is), and its associated trade union was due to their connection with the so-called Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ/PDY), which the Turkish government claims were responsible for the attempted coup. The government maintains that no application was filed to the Inquiry Commission by Aksiyon-Is and its affiliated trade unions, failing to use all available domestic channels and remedies.

 

However, the ILO committee’s findings note that the decision and power to declare a state of emergency for the dissolution of these unions was granted to the Council of Ministers when the decision-making power should rest with the parliament. This authorization allowed the executive body to issue Decrees with the force of law in place of the parliament’s ordinary legislative procedures. Therefore, all domestic channels for seeking legal amends have now lapsed.

 

The ILO stated that individuals having membership of trade unions associated with FETÖ/PDY was entirely lawful under Article 2 of Convention No. 87. They maintained that these trade unions had been constituted and operated lawfully until the state of emergency was declared. Therefore, it is unlawful to punish workers for simply having membership in a trade union without proof of involvement, a specific action, or even knowledge that they may have had possible affiliations with a terrorist organization. Aksiyon-Is maintains that all these dismissals took place before any investigations and in the absence of due process. Aksiyon-Is further argues that none of the detainees were allowed to contest the decision of their dismissal to a neutral body, which violates Article 8 of the Convention.

United Nations International Labor Organization (ILO) Executive Board dated 24 March 2021, numbered GB.341/INS/13/5/, concludes that the dismissals made with the Statutory Decrees and the closure of institutions in Turkey are contrary to the International Conventions No. 158 and No. 87 and therefore illegal.

 

Erdogan’s AKP Government is asked to rectify this unlawfulness. Although it has been over ten months since the decision, the AKP Government has not fulfilled its requirements, nor has it shown any interest in implementing it. The ILO must uphold its decision and put pressure on the AKP Government, considering the unlikelihood of implementing the decision by themselves if left unsupervised.

 

Fulfillment of the decision taken by the ILO Executive Board is obligatory both in terms of International Law and Turkish Law. The following petition provides an in-depth course of action to rectify its unfairness.

The petition asks the ILO to uphold its decision and act in favor of the implementation of the Board of Directors’ decision please take a moment to read through the cause and support. Contribute to the ILO and AKP Government officials’ action by signing.

 

Written by Mahnoor Tariq

 

References

Michael Rubin, (2017), ‘Did Erdogan stage the coup?’,  AEIdeas
David Lepeska, (2020), The ‘gift from god’ that crushed Turkish democracy, Retrieved from http://ahval.co/en-84353

Source URL: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_norm/—relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_775695.pdf
Source URL: Human Rights Watch, https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/07/18/turkey-protect-rights-law-after-coup-attempt

 

[1] (Rubin, 2017)

[2] https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_norm/—relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_775695.pdf

The case highlighted applications mainly concern the arrest and pre-trial detention of the applicants – all of whom were sitting as judges or prosecutors at different types and/or levels of court.

Background to the case were as follows:

1. During the night of 15 to 16 July 2016 a group of members of the Turkish armed forces calling themselves the “Peace at Home Council” attempted to carry out a military coup aimed at overthrowing the democratically installed National Assembly, government and President of Turkey.
2. The day after the attempted military coup, the national authorities blamed the attempt on the network linked to Fetullah Gülen, a Turkish citizen living in Pennsylvania (United States of America) and considered to be the leader of FETÖ/PDY.

 

3. On 16 July 2016 the Bureau for Crimes against the Constitutional Order at the Ankara public prosecutor’s office initiated a criminal investigation ex proprio motu into, inter alios, the suspected members of FETÖ/PDY within the judiciary. According to the information provided by the Government, this investigation against judges and prosecutors, including members of high courts, was initiated in accordance with the provisions of the ordinary law, on the ground that there had been a case of discovery in flagrante delicto falling with the jurisdiction of the assize courts.

 

 

4. instructions issued to the Directorate General of Security on the same day, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor noted that the offence of attempting to overthrow the government and the constitutional order by force was still ongoing and that there was a risk that members of the FETÖ/PDY terrorist organisation who were suspected of committing the offence in question might flee the country. He asked the Directorate General of Security to contact all the regional authorities with a view to taking into police custody all the judges and public prosecutors whose names were listed in the appendix to the instructions – including some of the applicants –, and to ensure that they were brought before a public prosecutor to be placed in pre-trial detention under Article 309 of the Criminal Code.
5. On 20 July 2016 the Government declared a state of emergency for a period of three months as from 21 July 2016; the state of emergency was subsequently extended for further periods of three months by the Council of Ministers.

 

6. During the state of emergency, the Council of Ministers passed several legislative decrees under Article 121 of the Constitution (see Baş, cited above, § 52). One of them, Legislative Decree no. 667, published in the Official Gazette on 23 July 2016, provided in its Article 3 that the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors (Hakimler ve Savcılar Yüksek Kurulu ‑“the HSYK”) was authorised to dismiss any judges or prosecutors who were considered to belong or to be affiliated or linked to terrorist organisations or organisations, structures or groups found by the National Security Council to have engaged in activities harmful to national security.

 

7. On 18 July 2018 the state of emergency was lifted.

 

 

Actions against judges/prosecutors by the Turkish state:

Laws under which the Turkish state took action:

The following laws were used to take action against the prosecutors / judges by the Turkish state.

Investigation

Section 76

1. The initial investigation in respect of offences committed by the President, the Chief Public Prosecutor, the deputy presidents, the chamber presidents and the members of the Supreme Administrative Court in connection with or in the course of their official duties shall be conducted by a committee composed of a chamber president and two members selected by the President of the Supreme Administrative Court.

 

The procedure for the prosecution of personal offences

Section 82

1. The proceedings regarding the personal offences committed by the President, the Chief Public Prosecutor, the deputy presidents, the chamber presidents and the members of the Supreme Administrative Court shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions concerning the personal offences committed by the President, the Chief Public Prosecutor and the members of the Court of Cassation.

 

Outcome of the Judicial action by the Turkish state against prosecutors/ judges:

The Turkish state has taken judicial action against prosecutors/judges concerning the arrest and pre-trial detention of the applicants.

 

In the case Turan vs The State of Turkey the court noted the following:

 

1. Decides, unanimously, to join the applications;
2. Declares, unanimously, the complaint under Article 5 § 1 of the Convention concerning the lawfulness of the applicants’ initial pre-trial detention admissible;
3. Holds, unanimously, that there has been a violation of Article 5 § 1 of the Convention on account of the unlawfulness of the initial pre-trial detention of the applicants who were ordinary judges and prosecutors at the time of their detention;
4. Holds, unanimously, that there has been a violation of Article 5 § 1 of the Convention on account of the unlawfulness of the initial pre-trial detention of the applicants who were members of the Court of Cassation or the Supreme Administrative Court at the time of their detention;
5. Holds, by six votes to one, that there is no need to examine the admissibility and merits of the applicants’ remaining complaints under Article 5 of the Convention;
6. Holds, unanimously,

(a) that the respondent State is to pay each of the applicants, within three months from the date on which the judgment becomes final in accordance with Article 44 § 2 of the Convention, EUR 5,000 (five thousand euros) in respect of non-pecuniary damage and costs and TURAN AND OTHERS v. TURKEY JUDGMENT 29 expenses, plus any tax that may be chargeable on these amounts, which are to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement;

(b) that from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amount at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points;

7. Dismisses, unanimously, the remainder of the applicants’ claim for just satisfaction. Done in English, and notified in writing on 23 November 2021, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

 

The state of judges/prosecutors in Turkey – a summary:

 

The actions by the Turkish state shows that its actions to initiate actions against Judges/prosecutors was arbitrary. This is why the court decided to impose fines on such actions. While, military coup is definitely hostile action against the executive, the arrest of judges and prosecutors were broad and arbitrary in its scope. Judges and Prosecutors are representatives of the critical third pillar of a country that is the Judiciary. Judiciary often acts as a check against overreach by the executive and legislature. In this way it ensures that people’s fundamental rights do not get trampled due to the actions of legislature/ executive whether knowingly/unknowingly.

 

The state of judges/ prosecutors in Turkey can be seen as vulnerable. The judges are vulnerable to actions by the Turkish state which believes in detention, arrest of judges without verifiable reason. This may be of significant concern because it leads to chilling stifling of judicial independence. The fundamental fact is that after the 2016 coup the arrest of prosecutors/ judges were based on suspicions of being a part of a movement that was allegedly responsible for a coup overthrowing the executive. While, overthrowing of a democratically elected government cannot be justified, the arrest of all judges who a part of a particular list shows a lack of respect for established forms. The Turkish government decided to ask the Directorate General of Security to contact all the regional authorities with a view to taking into police custody all the judges and public prosecutors whose names were listed in the appendix to the instructions – including some of the applicants –, and to ensure that they were brought before a public prosecutor to be placed in pre-trial detention under Article 309 of the Criminal Code. This is a complete violation of a proper process of prosecution in which there should have been investigation, enquiry, evidence gathering. After this there should have been arrest and then placing the evidence in court. None of this happened.

 

The Turkish authorities have shown complete lack of respect either for judges as individuals who have fundamental freedoms nor have they considered the impact it will have on the ability of judiciary to restrain harmful government action. In summary this is what the case and its verdict as well as Turkish govt’s actions highlight after a coup. While, coup against the state is unjustifiable detention of judges without proof of involvement in coup is also unjustifiable.

 

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