Greece has condemned Turkey’s decision to convict activist and philanthropist Osman Kavala to life imprisonment and thus without parole.
In a statement posted on Twetter by the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, Athens called for Kavala’s immediate release, adding that the “decision stands in stark contrast with the international obligations Turkey has assumed.”
“Respect for rule of law, fundamental freedoms and human rights constitute a fundamental obligation for countries aspiring to join the European Union, including Turkey,” the ministry said.
This decision stands in stark contrast with the international obligations Turkey has assumed.
Respect for Rule of Law, Fundamental Freedoms and Human Rights constitute a fundamental obligation for countries aspiring to join the European Union, including Turkey (2/2)
— Υπουργείο Εξωτερικών (@GreeceMFA) April 27, 2022
64-year-old Osman Kavala was on Monday jailed for life without parole after he was convicted by an Istanbul court of trying to overthrow Turkey’s government by financing protests.
The Turkish businessman, activist and philanthropist has supported numerous civil society organizations in Turkey since the early 1990s. He is the founder and chair of the board of Anadolu Kültür, an Istanbul-based nonprofit arts and culture organization.
In 2019, Kavala received the European Archaeological Heritage Prize from the European Association of Archaeologists for his efforts to protect and preserve significant examples of cultural heritage in danger in Turkey and the Ayşenur Zarakolu Freedom of Thought and Expression Award by Human Rights Association’s Istanbul branch.
His arrest in autumn 2017 Turkey caused the European Court of Human Rights and ambassadors from ten Western countries to demand his release. These demands were rejected by Turkish courts and president Erdoğan.
On 18 October 2017 Osman Kavala was detained at the Istanbul Atatürk Airport after his visit to Gaziantep for a joint project with Goethe Institute.[19] On 25 October 2017, the newspaper Daily Sabah, close to the Erdoğan government, accused him of being a “business tycoon with a shady background” and having contacts with the “Gülenist Terror Group” (FETÖ).[25]
On 1 November 2017, he was arrested on both Article 309 and Article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code. Article 309 (“attempts to abolish, replace or prevent the implementation of, through force and violence, the constitutional order of the republic of Turkey” was related to an investigation on the 2016 Turkish coup d’état attempt, and Article 312 (“the use of force and violence, to abolish the government of the Republic of Turkey or to prevent it, in part or in full, from fulfilling its duties” was related to an investigation on Gezi Park protests.
Related to Article 312 or the Gezi Park Trial as it is referred to in the press, a criminal indictment seeking life imprisonment for Kavala and 15 other people, including journalist Can Dündar and actor Memet Ali Alabora, was accepted on 4 March 2019 by the Istanbul 30th Heavy Penal Court.
Europe’s top court and several Western governments have denounced the case against him as being politically motivated.
Osman Kavala comes from a family of tobacco traders, who moved from Northern Greece to Turkey in the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey.
