Europe puts Turkey on watchlist over crackdown on dissent, human rights

Demonstrators hold a flag of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey and a placard reading "No! This is just the beginning" during a protest at the Kadikoy district in Istanbul on April 23, 2017 following the results in a nationwide referendum that will hugely enhance the president Recep Erdogan powers. (AFP/Yasin Akgul)

The Turkish foreign ministry has strongly condemned what it describes as the “unjust decision” of a top European rights body to put it on a monitoring watch list.

Ankara says it has been left with no choice but to reconsider its relations with the organisation.

“Deciding to re-open the monitoring procedure of malicious circles at the PACE is a disgrace to this organ, which claims to be the cradle of democracy,” the ministry said in a statement.

Xenophobia and Islamophobia are “spreading with violence” across Europe, it added.

The Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assemby (PACE) has put Turkey on a monitoring watch list.

There are concerns over what they say is the stifling of dissent and rights violations under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.