ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th April, 2022) The German ambassador was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Friday to express protest over what Ankara sees as an interference in internal affairs, after the Turkish head of mission in Berlin was summoned in relation to the the life imprisonment of human rights activist Osman Kavala, a diplomatic source told Sputnik.
Osman Kavala is a prominent Turkish human rights activist, the founder of Istanbul-based nonprofit arts and culture organization Anadolu Kultur, and a 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.
"After our ambassador in Berlin was summoned today (Friday) by the German Foreign Ministry regarding the Kavala case, German ambassador in Ankara Jürgen Schulz was summoned to the (Turkish) Foreign Ministry at 17:30 local time (14:30 GMT) by Deputy Foreign Minister and Director for EU Affairs Faruk Kaymakcı. Ambassador Schulz was told that we condemn the summoning of our ambassador in Berlin to the Foreign Ministry on an internal case, which is contrary to diplomatic practice," the source told Sputnik.
According to the source, the ambassador was also informed that the conviction by an independent Turkish judiciary cannot be challenged by any institution, authority or country since Turkey is a state ruled by law, aware of its Constitution and international obligations. The principle of non-interference in internal affairs enshrined in the Vienna Convention was also reminded to the ambassador.
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.
