Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag on Friday accused Berlin of interference in Anakra's internal affairs after the German Foreign Ministry summoned Turkish ambassador in Berlin over the life imprisonment of Turkish human rights activist Osman Kavala
ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th April, 2022) Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag on Friday accused Berlin of interference in Anakra's internal affairs after the German Foreign Ministry summoned Turkish ambassador in Berlin over the life imprisonment of Turkish human rights activist Osman Kavala.
Osman Kavala is a prominent Turkish human rights activist, the founder of Istanbul-based nonprofit arts and culture organization Anadolu Kultur, and the supporter for ethnic and religious minority projects, including the reconciliation process between Turkey and Armenia, and the peaceful resolution of the Kurdish issue.
In February 2020, Kavala was acquitted of all charges related to a coup d'etat attempt during the 2013 Gezi Park protests in Istanbul. On the same day, the Turkish prosecutor's office issued a warrant for Kavala's arrest accusing him of another attempted coup d'etat in July 2016. On Monday, Kavala was sentenced to life imprisonment.
"The summoning of our ambassador to the German Foreign Ministry over the case pending in our country is a blatant attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of Turkey. Any country, including Germany, has no right to interfere in the internal affairs of Turkey," Bozdag said on Twitter.
Turkey is a completely independent country, he said, adding that "the Turkish judicial system making decisions on behalf of the Turkish people is independent as well," and further saying that "Turkish judges deliver verdicts of conscience in accordance with the constitution and law."
In October 2021, the embassies of Canada, France, Finland, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and the United States called on the Turkish government to release Kavala. The Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned their ambassadors and urged them to comply with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later said that he had issued a decree declaring these ambassadors persona non grata. In late October, the US embassy said that it does not interfere in internal affairs of other countries, followed by relevant statements from other embassies, which resulted in Erdogan saying that the incident was over.
On Monday, the US State Department said that Washington expresses the deepest concern about the life imprisonment of Kavala and is calling for his release.
