Marianne Mikko, co-rapporteur on the post-monitoring dialog with Turkey, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), criticized Turkey for jailing journalists en masse, saying that France is also under emergency rule but no journalist was jailed there in a sharp contrast to Turkey.
She also shared her experiences in Turkey during a fact-finding mission recently by saying that a climate of fear is spreading in Turkey and she underlined she could relate to that as a citizen of a country that went through Soviet Union pressure.
Mikko, a lawmaker form Estonia and a former journalist, urged the Council of Europe’s PACE to place Turkey under monitoring mechanism so that the rule of law, fundamental rights and democratic values can be closely monitored.
