The recent developments in Turkey are a cause for grave concern and I have conveyed this to my Turkish counterpart Minister Çavuşoğlu in a telephone conversation today. On this occasion, I strongly condemned the most recent terrorist attack which took place in Diyarbakir. I expressed my sympathy to the families of the victims and my solidarity with the Turkish authorities in their fight against terrorism. At the same time, I stressed that it is essential to fully uphold human rights, the rule of law and democracy, in line with the commitments undertaken by Turkey within the Council of Europe. This concerns in particular freedom of expression and information, freedom of association as well as effective political pluralism through democratically elected representatives at both the national and local levels. I raised in this context the question of the detention of the co-chairs of the HDP party. Minister Çavuşoğlu assured me that the Turkish authorities are mindful of their commitments to the Council of Europe and determined to ensure respect for fundamental democratic principles.
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