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Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu meets with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy Johannes Hahn in Ankara, Turkey 22 November 2018. Cem Ozdel / Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs / Support via REUTERSReuters
By Ece Toksabay and Tulay Karadeniz
ANKARA (Reuters) – Senior EU officials on Thursday reprimanded Turkey for arresting journalists and academics and the lengthy pre-trial detention of a Kurdish politician, at a time when he had been arrested. press conference with the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs in Ankara, which quickly became tense.
The European Commissioner for relations with countries aspiring to join the bloc, Johannes Hahn, stressed the importance of political dialogue. But he said the block was concerned about the arrest of journalists, human rights defenders and civil society activists.
"Criminal and judicial proceedings must be based on the presumption of innocence, journalists and civil society must be able to do their important work," said Hahn at a press conference alongside Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Hahn was referring to imprisoned human rights activist Osman Kavala and 13 academics arrested last week in an investigation accusing them of attempting to overthrow the government through mass protests in 2013 .
EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini, also at the press conference, also criticized Turkey over university detentions and said she hoped that a man pro-Kurdish politician detained, Selahattin Demirtas, would soon be released.
Cavusoglu responded quickly to Hahn's remarks, calling on the bloc to stop defending "those who embark on activities to revoke the democratically elected Turkish government."
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on Tuesday that Turkey should promptly process the legal case of Demirtas, the former pro-Kurdish opposition leader, claiming that his detention provisional had lasted longer than it was justified.
"Turkey should follow the decision of the ECHR," said Mogherini.
"There is no double standard here – we have high standards, whether you like it or not."
(Report by Tulay Karadeniz and Ece Toksabay, Writing by David Dolan and Dominic Evans, edited by Gareth Jones and Peter Graff)
Copyright 2018 Thomson Reuters.
