Fifteen Swiss organisations have called on the Federal Council to suspend negotiations on expanding its free trade agreements with Turkey until the country releases all its political prisoners.
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Turkey must ensure that the media and non-governmental organisations can operate freely in the country once again, demanded the Society for Threatened PeoplesExternal link and other organisations including the leftwing Green Party and Social Democratic Party in a statement.
The Turkish opposition and Kurdish minority groups were affected by reprisals in the transcontinental country, they wrote on Monday. The group denounced the Turkish intervention in Syria as an “aggression contrary to international law” and called on Turkey to put an end to any politically motivated criminal proceedings.
The free trade agreement between the European Free Trade AssociationExternal link (EFTA) and Turkey has existed since 1992. It is currently undergoing a process of modernisation and expansion. In addition to Switzerland, EFTA’s other member states are Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
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“It told my colleagues if the UK approaches EFTA to explore the possibility of joining EFTA, Switzerland would be open to discussions,” Schneider-Ammann told reporters in Geneva following an EFTA ministerial meeting. The Swiss president said another solution would be a free trade agreement between Britain and EFTA, the small club of nations – Norway,…
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“About 1,500 over the past two-and-a-half days,” says the policeman on duty when asked how many people have passed the checkpoint in Bern’s embassy district. He is referring to Turkish citizens permitted to enter the closely guarded embassy area and have their say on a set of 18 proposed amendments to the Turkish constitution which…
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