Ankara summons 10 ambassadors over call to free Turkish philanthropist
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassadors of the United States, Germany and France, among others, after they called for the release of Osman Kavala, a Turkish philanthropist jailed over four years without conviction.
ISTANBUL — Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the ambassadors of 10 nations Tuesday to rebuke a rare joint call for the release of jailed Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala.
On Monday, the fourth anniversary of Kavala’s detention without conviction, the embassies of the United States, Canada, France, Finland, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden published a statement critical of the prominent civil rights activist’s continued imprisonment despite a 2019 European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling for his immediate release.
“The continuing delays in his trial, including by merging different cases and creating new ones after a previous acquittal, cast a shadow over respect for democracy, the rule of law and transparency in the Turkish judiciary system,” the joint statement read.
In response, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry summoned the signing nations’ ambassadors in Ankara Tuesday to protest what it considered meddling in Turkey's domestic affairs, releasing its own statement saying it “rejected” the attempt to “politicize judicial proceedings and put pressure on Turkish judiciary.”
