The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has decided to reopen a political monitoring process against Turkey following the April 16 referendum on constitutional reform.
The assembly gathered Tuesday in France's Strasbourg in a session to discuss a report titled "The functioning of democratic institutions in Turkey," during which 113 voted in favor, while 45 voted against the monitoring decision.
During its Spring Part Session on April 25, PACE decided to re-open the monitoring procedure in respect to Turkey, which has been under post-monitoring dialogue since 2004.
In response, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the decision and said that it had been made with political motives, the Daily Sabah reported.
The ministry strongly urged the parliamentarians, who voted for the PACE decision, to act using common sense, and to take joint actions against the growing threat of terrorism, adding that Ankara was left with no choice but to reconsider its relations with the body.
