The Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland paid an official visit to Ankara on 3 August 2016.

In his first meeting in Ankara, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Jagland met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdağ, the leaders of the opposition parties and the Speaker of the Turkish Parliament İsmail Kahraman. During these meetings, Secretary General Jagland condemned the coup attempt and expressed his condolences to President Erdoğan. During the meetings, regional and international issues were also discussed. Furthermore, Secretary General Jagland visited the TGNA and saw the damaged areas of the building as a result of the coup attempt.

During the meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs Çavuşoğlu, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Jagland indicated that there is little understanding in the EU about the latest development occurred in Turkey after the coup attempt. In order to fully understand the current political environment in Turkey, he highlighted the importance for Turkey to investigate and prosecute those people involved in the coup attempt. According to Secretary General, this can only be achieved by being fully aligned with the European Convention on Human Rights and related case laws. He added that both Turkey and the EU need each other. Therefore, he underscored the importance for the EU to help Turkey in this situation.