“Leyla Güven and 30 local elected representatives held in Diyarbakir have just been released. After over four years of detention for Leyla Güven, the judge in Diyarbakir Court has just taken a decision that does credit to Turkey”, said the rapporteurs on local and regional democracy in Turkey, Anders Knape, Sweden (L, EPP/CCE), and Leen Verbeek, Netherlands (R, SOC).
For the Congress, the case of Leyla Güven has always been symbolic of the situation of all the local elected representatives detained in Turkey.
“For the Congress, which has been calling for Leyla Güven’s release since her first day in detention, it is a great relief. We are delighted for Leyla and for her family and friends, who are being reunited with her at last after so many years of suffering. We realise that the decision is still shaky. It does not end the judicial procedure and, as rapporteurs on local democracy in Turkey, we will continue with the Congress to keep a very close eye on the situation of Leyla Güven and the other elected representatives being detained”, they concluded.
See also:
Congress Bureau gravely concerned about massive detention of local elected representatives in Turkey
Turkey and the Council of Europe