Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said Ankara responded to a State Department statement calling for the release of human rights activist Osman Kavala as early as July 28, 2020
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy urged the US on Thursday not to interfere in the internal affairs of the republic and not to discuss the verdicts of Turkish judicial instances.
“We responded to the US State Department’s statement calling for the release of [human rights activist] Osman Kavala as early as July 28, 2020”, – the released communiqué said. – “Turkey is a state governed by the rule of law. No state can issue orders to Turkish courts for trials.”
Kavala was detained at Istanbul airport on 18 October 2017. On 1 November the same year, a court ordered his detention for “attempting to change the constitutional order and overthrow the current government”. Turkish authorities also believed Kavala was involved in protests that took place in 2013.
In February the previous year, an Istanbul court decided to acquit and release the activist, but the prosecutor’s office sanctioned his detention again later that day.