Turkey's lawyer in ECHR blocks Demirtaş's attorney on Twitter to avoid question about Ankara's non-compliance

Duvar English

German law professor Stefan Talmon who represented Ankara in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) blocked Selahattin Demirtaş's attorney on Twitter after the latter asked him to comment on Ankara's failure to comply with the ECHR ruling in favor of Demirtaş's immediate release. 

Former co-chair of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), Demirtaş's rights were violated by his extended detention since 2016, the ECHR has ruled not once, but twice, to Ankara's indifference.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan most recently said that ECHR rulings do not bind Turkish courts, signaling that Demirtaş would not be released from prison. 

Demirtaş's attorney Mahsuni Karaman asked Talmon, who represented Turkey in Demirtaş's case in the ECHR, what he thought about Ankara's non-compliance in a tweet on Jan. 27.

A later in the day on Jan. 27, Karaman shared a screenshot depicting Talmon's account having blocked his, and said "We got an answer :)."

"Seems like the government found a lawyer who's even stricter than them when it comes to respecting freedom of expression. Mr. Talmon, who will not even say that ECHR rulings are binding, are you going to keep making defenses at the court?" Karaman wrote.

Demirtaş's lawyer asks Turkey's ECHR attorney his opinion about Ankara's non-compliance with rulingsHuman Rights