Turkey Summons 10 Ambassadors Over Demand to Free Businessman
Turkey Summons 10 Ambassadors Over Demand to Free Osman Kavala
(Bloomberg) -- Turkey summoned the ambassadors of 10 countries, including the U.S. and Germany, for demanding the release of Osman Kavala, a philanthropist and businessman who remains jailed four years after he was charged with attempting to overthrow the government.
The rare joint call by the ambassadors late Monday underscored how the case is seen as a key test of the independence of Turkey’s judiciary and the rule of law.
Kavala stands accused of participating in a failed 2016 coup attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He has denied collaborating with followers of U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Erdogan says orchestrated the putsch bid. A prominent Turkish scholar in the U.S., Henri Barkey, is being tried in absentia in the same hearings.
Kavala was acquitted in February on separate charges of financing 2013 anti-government protests. But instead of being freed, he was immediately charged with “attempting to abolish the constitutional order” after Erdogan criticized the court’s decision.
Turkey has so far rejected calls from Washington and European capitals to release Kavala. Its Foreign Ministry on Tuesday summoned the ambassadors of the U.S., Germany, Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, Norway and New Zealand to demand an explanation for their joint statement.
The envoys’ “statement which was attempting to interfere with an ongoing judicial case and mount pressure on the Turkish judiciary has been rejected,” the ministry said. “The statement in question was also contrary to the rule of law, democracy and independence of the judiciary, which the ambassadors claimed to be defending.”
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