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Turkey says to take necessary steps over PACE decision

Xinhua, April 25, 2017 Adjust font size:

Turkey will take necessary steps regarding the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)'s decision to reopen a political monitoring process against the country, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Tuesday.

During its Spring Part Session on Tuesday, PACE decided to reopen the monitoring procedure in respect to Turkey, which has been under post-monitoring dialogue since 2004.

"PACE decision on Turkey is a political decision and is not compatible with reality," Yildirim told reporters, as quoted by local broadcaster CNN Turk.

Such decisions are not beneficial for regional or global peace, he added.

Yildirim said that the decision is a reflection of anti-Turkey sentiment in the assembly and is politically motivated.

In a statement posted on his official Twitter account, Turkish presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin criticized the decision Tuesday.

"The decision by PACE is a political operation by anti-Turkey circles. We condemn this deliberate decision which is far from being just or fair," Kalin said.

Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the decision and said that it had been made with political motives.

"We strongly condemn this unjust decision of PACE taken with political motives, in contravention of established procedures," the ministry said in a written statement.

Omer Celik, Turkey's EU Affairs Minister and Chief Negotiator also criticized the PACE decision, saying that the assembly made a "historical" mistake.

The assembly gathered Tuesday in France's Strasbourg in a session to discuss a report titled "The functioning of democratic institutions in Turkey."

The assembly's monitoring committee concerned over constitutional amendments that were approved on April 16 in a national referendum amid a state of emergency. Endit