His contempt At the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Western institutions in general in the case of Osman Kavala (and not only) were demonstrated today, Thursday, by the President of Turkey.
“Turkey will not respect the Council of Europe if it does not respect the Turkish courts,” said Tayyip Erdogan when asked about the decision to return the case against the Turkish philanthropist to the European Court of Human Rights.
“What the ECtHR said, what the Council of Europe says, does not concern us much because we demand that our courts be respected. To those who do not show this respect: forgive us, but we will not respect you at all.” said the Turkish president characteristically.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry announced yesterday that Turkey has applied the verdict of the ECtHR and that Kavala is being held in a different procedure before the courts.
The famous activist Kavala has been in prison since 2017 without being convicted. Among other things, he is accused of acting as a mastermind, both in the demonstrations in Gezi Park in Istanbul in 2013 and in the failed coup attempt in 2016.
The ECtHR ruled more than two years ago that Kavala should be released immediately and ruled that his detention was intended to silence him, but Turkey did not comply with the decision.
The Council of Europe announced today that the Committee of Ministers had referred Turkey to the ECtHR because the country had not fulfilled its obligation to implement its decision under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Referral to the ECtHR is the next step in the infringement process, which could lead to the removal of Turkey from the Council of Europe, of which it is a founding member.
“The Commission has found that by not ensuring the immediate release of Mr Kavalas, Turkey is refusing to comply with the Court’s final verdict in this case,” it said in a statement.
Kavala was released in 2020 from charges related to the 2013 national demonstrations.
Hours later, another court ordered his arrest on a charge of attempting to overthrow the constitutional order linked to the failed 2016 coup, which the ECtHR says is also unfounded.
The court later ruled in his favor on the charge, but ordered his detention on charges of espionage in the same case, a move critics of the president say was intended to circumvent the ECtHR ruling.
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