European rights watchdog says it's worried about Turkey after mayor's jailing

By Huseyin Hayatsever and Mert Ozkan

ANTALYA, Turkey (Reuters) - The head of the Council of Europe, the continent's leading human rights watchdog, told Reuters it was worried about any violations of rights in Turkey after the jailing of President Tayyip Erdogan's chief political rival and hundreds of arrests that followed mass protests.

Secretary General Alain Berset said the problem of democratic backsliding should be addressed as a global phenomenon, adding that the Council had no specific position on probes under way into numerous Turkish opposition figures. 

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was jailed last month pending trial over charges of corruption, a move that triggered the largest protests in more than a decade, with students, opposition parties and others calling it politicised and anti-democratic. The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) chose Imamoglu last month as its future presidential candidate.

The nationwide rallies, which have thinned in the last two weeks, have been mostly peaceful, but nearly 2,000 people have been detained and many jailed pending trial.

In an interview on Saturday on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in southern Turkey, Berset said he is in contact with Turkish authorities and opposition officials in order to stress the principles of democratic values. 

"I want to record here the importance to respect every element of the European convention of human rights, also the freedom of assembly and the freedom of speech," he said.

Turkey is a founding member of the Council, a pan-European group that has aimed to uphold human rights, democracy and rule of law in member states since its formation after World War Two.

The CHP as well as rights groups and some Western powers, have said the case against the mayor is an effort to use the judiciary to kneecap Erdogan's electoral rivals - charges the government denies.  

Marta Kos, the European Union's commissioner for enlargement, said earlier this month she cancelled a planned meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan at the Antalya forum over concerns about Imamoglu's jailing. 

Turkey is an EU candidate country though its application has been stalled for decades. 

Berset said the Council of Europe, which is separate from the EU, wants to address all issues with Turkey in an open and frank way. 

Democratic backsliding is a "huge challenge" globally, including in Europe, and the Council is working on a "new democratic pact" to address it, he said.

"We need to address this challenge as a global phenomenon," Berset said. "Turkey being a founding member of the Council of Europe, it would be impossible without it to address the development of democratic security together." 

(Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever; Editing by Jonathan Spicer, William Maclean)