Top European rights official urges Turkey to respect rule of law

PanARMENIAN.Net - The most senior European official to visit Turkey since last month's attempted coup has urged Turkey to act according to the rule of law, BBC News reports.

Thornbjorn Jagland, secretary general of the Council of Europe, is meeting key government figures.

He said he understood Turkey's need to "take on those behind the coup" but urged it to adopt judicial safeguards.

More than 50,000 Turks have been detained or sacked over suspected links with the alleged mastermind.

But U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen denies any role in the attempted overthrow.

Turkish officials are expected to tell Jagland the government is not getting sufficient support from its Western partners.

Jagland's organisation monitors human rights compliance among the Council's 47 members, including Turkey.

Standing beside Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu shortly after arriving in Turkey, Jagland told the media that the coup attempt had been "outrageous" and "there has been too little understanding in Europe" on how a secret network had infiltrated the army and judiciary.

"We see a need for cleaning up all this - but is important that this is done in conformity with the rule of law and the standards in the European convention on human rights and the case law of the [European] Court of Human Rights," he said.

He will also meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, the justice minister and the heads of opposition parties.

Tensions between the Turkish leadership and the country's ostensible Western allies have surged over his response to the coup.