After criticism of the Kavala verdict
Ankara summons German ambassador
An Istanbul court sentenced the internationally renowned cultural promoter Osman Kavala to life imprisonment. Photo: Wiktor Dabkowski/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The life imprisonment against the culture promoter Osman Kavala had triggered heavy criticism. The Foreign Office in Berlin summoned the Turkish ambassador. Now Ankara is reacting on its part.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry has summoned the German ambassador. The Foreign Office in Berlin had previously called in the Turkish ambassador on Friday because of the internationally criticized judgment against the prominent cultural promoter Osman Kavala.
Kavala and seven other defendants were sentenced last Monday in Istanbul in connection with the 2013 Gezi protests critical of the government. Kavala received a life sentence for attempted coup.
A ministry spokesman said that the Turkish ambassador was “made very clear” about the position of the federal government during the conversation. The federal government demands the immediate release of Kavala.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had sharply condemned the verdict against Kavala via a spokesman as “a devastating signal for Turkish civil society as a whole and the rule of law situation in Turkey”.
Turkish diplomatic sources said on Friday evening that the German ambassador, Jürgen Schulz, had been informed that the convocation of the Turkish ambassador in Berlin was condemned. The German ambassador was also informed that the Turkish judiciary was independent and that attempts at intervention from outside were rejected.