In his written statement regarding the U.S. State Department’s human rights report, Altun expressed that human rights and dignity were universal values that Turkey cherished and brought to the agenda in all international forums.

Recalling that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke fearlessly about unfair treatment and injustices around the world and regularly called on world leaders to act, Altun went on to say: “In recent years, our President Erdoğan has virtually been the only voice against human rights abuses in our region and around the world. He has taken it upon himself to mobilize the world against horrible crimes committed against civilians. While this is the case, the U.S. State Department’s annual human rights report poses unfair criticisms against our country. Turkey does not consider human rights as a domestic policy matter, but a universal one but assessments on this front have to consider certain facts.”

Altun emphasized that Turkey made the greatest progress in human rights under the AK Party governments.

“In fact, we undertook a ‘silent revolution.’ We have had to adjust our laws and regulations along the way and the latest example is our Justice Reform and Human Rights Action Plan”, Altun noted, adding: “Assessments on Turkey’s human rights record are meaningless when they do not properly address the long-standing terrorism threats from several terror groups inside our country and along our borders. Unfair critiques of our struggle against terrorism and our government’s efforts to provide security for our citizens cannot be taken seriously.”

“As a democratically elected government, it is our responsibility to protect our country’s unity and integrity and our people’s security. Turkey is conducting its fight against PKK, FETO, and DAESH, mindful of the balance between security and rights and freedoms of our people. Turkey sees them as the biggest obstacle before our freedoms and expects our allies to help with our struggle against terrorism.”

Altun underlined that Turkey had always kept wide open the door of political dialogue with the EU as well as the U.S. and continued to do so.

“Our red line, however, is our people’s safety and security. We work hard to protect our freedoms and expect our partners and allies to act in good faith,” Altun added. (ILKHA)