France criticized a Turkish court’s life sentence for leading civil society leader Osman Kavala on Tuesday, saying his incarceration breached Turkey’s international commitments. “France firmly opposes the life sentence,” said the foreign ministry of France, urging Kavala’s “immediate release” and the dismissal of all allegations against him. He had been jailed for almost four and … Read more
One of Turkey’s most well-known detainees appeared in court on Friday for what could be his final hearing in a case that has come to symbolize Ankara’s tense relations with the West. Osman Kavala, a Paris-born activist and philanthropist, was relatively unknown when he was detained at Istanbul’s airport in October 2017 after returning from … Read more
ANKARA – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday told his foreign minister to expel the ambassadors of 10 countries including Germany and the United States who appealed for the release of a jailed civil society leader. The envoys issued a highly unusual joint statement on Monday saying the continued detention of Parisian-born philanthropist and activist … Read more
ANKARA – The ambassadors of 10 countries including Germany and the United States who appealed for the release of Turkish activist Osman Kavala will be declared “persona non grata,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday. “I have ordered our foreign minister to declare these 10 ambassadors as persona non grata as soon as possible,” he said, … Read more
