First Germany summoned the Turkish ambassador, then Turkey the German one: The federal government is demanding the release of the culture patron who was convicted of the Gezi protests – Ankara, in turn, refuses to interfere.
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.
During the talks with the Turkish ambassador on Friday, the position of the federal government was “made very clear,” said a spokesman for the Foreign Office. In addition, the federal government has called on the other member states of the European Union to proceed in a similar way.
The spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry reiterated that the judgment against Kavala is in blatant contradiction to Turkey’s membership in the Council of Europe. The federal government is demanding the immediate release of Kavala. The human rights activist is a bridge builder who has rendered outstanding services to the exchange between Turkey and the European Union.
In Turkish diplomatic circles, it was said that the German ambassador had been made clear that the Turkish government rejected all attempts to interfere in its judiciary or politics. He had been told that the verdict could not be questioned. Turkey’s Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag accused Germany in a tweet, in the past having often trampled on justice. Germany should act in accordance with international law.
Kavala, 64, was found guilty of financing nationwide demonstrations allegedly aimed at overthrowing the government. The cultural patron rejects the allegations. Critics and opposition parties accuse the judiciary of taking after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The European Court of Human Rights has already ruled that previous trials against Kavala were politically motivated. 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”.