The Council of Europe criticized a number of European countries, including Turkey, for not signing the charter for regional or minority languages, Today’s Zaman reports.

According to the source, PACE President Mevlut Cavusoglu called on Turkey to sign all CoE conventions, including the one on minority languages.

The report submitted to PACE notes that protection of minority languages is a key objective of the CoE. Presently the convention is signed by 24 member states of the Council of Europe, Today’s Zaman says. However, Turkey avoids signing of the charter referring to constitution, recognizing Turkish language as the only official.

“Turkey bases its minority policies on the Treaty of Lausanne, which only recognizes Christians, Jews and Armenians as minorities. No other ethnic groups are considered minorities. Turkey’s neighbor Armenia, however, signed and ratified the convention and is the only country that listed Kurdish as a ‘territorial’ language spoken in the country without any restrictions,” the article reads.