The activities of the Turkish authorities were rebuked by the deputies at the PACE autumn session on Wednesday.

Before responding to the questions, the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu publicly stated that Turkey is a democratic country and implements all the norms and provisions of European conventions.

This statement sparked lots of criticism.  The delegates wondered how Turkey can consider itself a democratic country when the authorities persecute dissidents and keep many arrestees in inhuman conditions.

''Don’t you understand you become Middle East country? The democratic situation [in your country] is detonating,'' Dutch MP Michael Aastrup Jensen said, recalling that many activists and journalists are in prisons.  

Çavuşoğlu remained calm and again stated about the democratic Turkey.