ANKARA - The ECHR has defended its president’s controversial visit to Turkey by saying that it was “standard practice” for court presidents to meet the political and judicial authorities of member states of the Council of Europe. 

 

According to the ECHR, Spano had accepted the invitation to “convey a very important message” that those in power cannot control the courts and that judgments by the ECHR must be “respected and enforced.”

 

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has defended its president’s controversial visit to Turkey by saying that it was “standard practice” for court presidents to meet the political and judicial authorities of member states of the Council of Europe.

 

ECHR President Robert Spano drew ire for meeting with government officials in Turkey, especially President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, despite grave human rights violations in the country.

 

Spano also received an honorary doctorate from Istanbul University and visited the southeastern province of Mardin, where he was accompanied by a government official who was appointed as mayor after the elected Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) official was sacked by the interior ministry — part of a broader crackdown against the party.

 

He didn’t meet with any opposition figures.

 

According to the ECHR, Spano had accepted the invitation to “convey a very important message” that those in power cannot control the courts and that judgments by the ECHR must be “respected and enforced,” Financial Times reported.

 

In Turkey, critics including prominent lawyers and civil society activists have accused the Council of Europe of failing to take a tough enough stance against Erdoğan’s human rights violations.