An Overview of The Additional Protocol to The Council of Europe Convention on The Prevention of Terrorism

Today, terrorism has become a global threat that deeply shakes the world. Currently, the issue of terrorism and counter-terrorism is at the top of the global agenda.

Turkey is a country fighting against terrorism for about 35 years. Considering that terrorism is a transboundary phenomenon, it is not possible for countries to overcome terrorism through the struggle alone. This phenomenon led to the fact that the global dimension came to the fore in the fight against terrorism, and the need for international cooperation, in particular, was shared more strongly by the public.

In order to prevent terrorism and to counter all its perpetrators with effective sanctions, important texts have been produced by the international community and comprehensive international agreements have been concluded with the United Nations (UN) and the Council of Europe (CoE).

Turkey, became a party to these international texts as a country committed to fight against terrorism. Turkey also made important contributions to the formation of an international public order called "Combating Terrorism Based on Human Rights".

As the rising value of our age, fundamental human rights are accepted among the concepts that will not be sacrificed for the fight against terrorism and security. In other words, the need to fight against terrorism without violating human rights is widely accepted by the international community.

In this context, the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism and its Additional Protocol, which Turkey is a party, are of great importance.

In our study, with these considerations, the Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism, which is known as the Protocol on foreign terrorist fighters, has been examined from all aspects.

In addition to these two Conventions, the Council of Europe Counter-Terrorism Strategy and the Guidelines of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on Human Rights and the Fight against Terrorism are also included in the study.

It will be our greatest wish that this humble work will be useful to those interested and pave the way for subsequent academic studies.