Turkey's Erdogan says respects Gezi ruling, but protests were "heinous attack"
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday he respected a court decision to acquit philanthropist Osman Kavala and eight others over their role in the Gezi Park protests, but that the 2013 unrest was a “heinous attack” on the country.
“The Gezi events were a heinous attack targeting the people and state, just like military coups,” Erdogan said in a speech to his AK Party lawmakers in parliament.
“We respect the judicial decision, but the sentencing of those who took part in Gezi for our people will never change,” he added.
ERDOGAN LIES
Turkish businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala has been re-arrested and taken to police headquarters in Istanbul, state media reported on Wednesday, hours after being acquitted over his alleged role in landmark protests in 2013
Kavala’s re-arrest, over allegations that he was involved in a 2016 attempted coup, in turn prompted expressions of astonishment and frustration from foreign observers of his case, opposition lawmakers and rights activists.
“No way to believe in any improvement in Turkey if the Prosecutor is undermining any step ahead. Back again in dark period,” the European Parliament’s rapporteur on Turkey, Nacho Sanchez Amor, said on Twitter.
Emma Sinclair-Webb, Turkey director of Human Rights Watch, described the arrest warrant as “lawless and vindictive”, bypassing a European Court of Human Rights ruling in December demanding his immediate release.
Police detained Kavala immediately after his release from a sprawling prison in Silivri, west of Istanbul, and took him to police headquarters after routine health checks, state-owned Anadolu news agency said.
During a 24-hour detention period, Kavala was expected to be sent to the prosecutor’s office at the main court in Istanbul, a Twitter account run by Kavala’s supporters said. Prosecutors will then rule on whether to formally arrest him and send him back to prison.
Kavala had been held in jail for more than two years over the Gezi case. He was accused of attempting to overthrow the government by organizing the protests, during which hundreds of thousands marched across Turkey against Erdogan’s plans to redevelop a central Istanbul park.
The European Court of Human Rights in December demanded his immediate release, saying there was a lack of reasonable suspicion that he had committed a crime.
Kavala is now being held in relation to the 2016 coup attempt that Ankara says was carried out by supporters of Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. Tens of thousands of people have been arrested in a crackdown following that failed putsch.
Turkish court delivers surprise acquittal in landmark protest trial
By Ali Kucukgocmen, Reuters•February 18, 2020
Turkish court delivers surprise acquittal in landmark protest trial
Mucella Yapici flashes V sign after leaving courtroom at Silivri Prison and Courthouse complex in Silivri
SILIVRI, Turkey (Reuters) - A Turkish court on Tuesday acquitted businessman Osman Kavala and eight others over their alleged role in the Gezi Park protests of 2013, delivering a surprise verdict in a case that had drawn criticism from Western allies and rights groups.
Applause erupted in the courtroom and some people cried in disbelief when the decision was announced. A guilty verdict had been widely expected in the case, regarded as a test of justice in Turkey.
Philanthropist Kavala was ordered to be set free after more than two years in jail. The European Court of Human Rights in December demanded his immediate release, saying there was a lack of reasonable suspicion that he had committed a crime.
"Of course today's decision is the right one (but) this has been a sham process. We've seen Turkey's justice system turned into an absurd, cruel theatre," Human Rights Watch Turkey director Emma Sinclair-Webb told Reuters.
In 2013, hundreds of thousands marched in Istanbul and elsewhere in Turkey against plans to build a replica Ottoman barracks on Istanbul's Gezi Park in a major challenge against then-Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.
Eight young protesters and a police officer were killed, and 5,000 were injured, in the unrest.
Following the ruling, Turkish Industry Minister Mustafa Varank called the Gezi protest a "betrayal" that had damaged the country democratically and economically.
Kavala and two other defendants had been facing life sentences without parole, while the other defendants were accused of aiding them in attempting to overthrow the government by organising the protests. They had denied the allegations.
At one point in the hearing, police scuffled in the courtroom with defence lawyers who attempted to prevent them forcibly removing a lawyer who had repeatedly requested permission to speak.
'CONSPIRATORIAL FICTION'
The case of seven further defendants, who are abroad and were being tried in absentia, was separated but arrest warrants for them were lifted. One lawyer said they were also expected to be acquitted.
Critics of Erdogan's government have questioned the independence of Turkish courts, especially since a crackdown following a failed coup in 2016. Erdogan, now Turkey's president, and his ruling AK Party say the judiciary makes independent decisions.
After final statements from defendants, the judge read the verdict in which he said they did not commit the alleged crimes.
Mucella Yapici, one of the defendants, said in an interview: "I hope this is the beginning, the first step of returning to law. That is what Gezi is, it is a step towards the light."
In his defence, Kavala had stressed the European Court of Human Rights decision demanding his immediate release and had described as a "conspiratorial fiction" the idea that the protests were an attempt to overthrow the government.
A court previously acquitted people prosecuted over the 2013 protests, with a judge ruling in 2015 they were exercising the right of freedom of assembly.
But in 2017 Kavala was arrested and the following year police arrested the other 15 defendants including civil society figures, writers and actors.
The prosecutions were part of a crackdown that Turkey says is necessary on security grounds. It has involved widespread purges of the armed forces, ministries and state organisations.
In surprise move, Turkey acquits nine on charges stemming from 2013 Gezi protests
Borzou Daragahi, The Independent•February 18, 2020
Turkish author fears for her life if she returns home
https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/02/turkish-author-fears-for-her-life-if.html
Turkey’s Erdogan Joins In on Vilification of Soros
Fercan Yalinkilic, Bloomberg•February 18, 2020
(Bloomberg) -- An Istanbul court acquitted prominent businessman Osman Kavala of charges of plotting to overthrow the government during mass protests that shook the country in 2013.
Nine defendants were cleared, and arrest warrants for others living abroad have been rescinded. Others accused in the case include actor Mehmet Ali Alabora and journalist Can Dundar, who have both left the country.
Kavala spent two years in jail while his case was tried. He was the only defendant to be incarcerated.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has alleged that Kavala was the “local collaborator” of a foreign conspiracy led by billionaire George Soros to divide Turkey by backing the demonstrations against a planned development in Istanbul’s Gezi Park.
The protests quickly morphed into the biggest challenge to the rule of Erdogan, then a powerful prime minister.
--With assistance from Ercan Ersoy.
By Ali Kucukgocmen, Reuters•February 18, 2020
Turkish court delivers surprise acquittal in landmark protest trial
Mucella Yapici flashes V sign after leaving courtroom at Silivri Prison and Courthouse complex in Silivri
SILIVRI, Turkey (Reuters) - A Turkish court on Tuesday acquitted businessman Osman Kavala and eight others over their alleged role in the Gezi Park protests of 2013, delivering a surprise verdict in a case that had drawn criticism from Western allies and rights groups.
Applause erupted in the courtroom and some people cried in disbelief when the decision was announced. A guilty verdict had been widely expected in the case, regarded as a test of justice in Turkey.
Philanthropist Kavala was ordered to be set free after more than two years in jail. The European Court of Human Rights in December demanded his immediate release, saying there was a lack of reasonable suspicion that he had committed a crime.
"Of course today's decision is the right one (but) this has been a sham process. We've seen Turkey's justice system turned into an absurd, cruel theatre," Human Rights Watch Turkey director Emma Sinclair-Webb told Reuters.
In 2013, hundreds of thousands marched in Istanbul and elsewhere in Turkey against plans to build a replica Ottoman barracks on Istanbul's Gezi Park in a major challenge against then-Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.
Eight young protesters and a police officer were killed, and 5,000 were injured, in the unrest.
Following the ruling, Turkish Industry Minister Mustafa Varank called the Gezi protest a "betrayal" that had damaged the country democratically and economically.
Kavala and two other defendants had been facing life sentences without parole, while the other defendants were accused of aiding them in attempting to overthrow the government by organising the protests. They had denied the allegations.
At one point in the hearing, police scuffled in the courtroom with defence lawyers who attempted to prevent them forcibly removing a lawyer who had repeatedly requested permission to speak.
'CONSPIRATORIAL FICTION'
The case of seven further defendants, who are abroad and were being tried in absentia, was separated but arrest warrants for them were lifted. One lawyer said they were also expected to be acquitted.
Critics of Erdogan's government have questioned the independence of Turkish courts, especially since a crackdown following a failed coup in 2016. Erdogan, now Turkey's president, and his ruling AK Party say the judiciary makes independent decisions.
After final statements from defendants, the judge read the verdict in which he said they did not commit the alleged crimes.
Mucella Yapici, one of the defendants, said in an interview: "I hope this is the beginning, the first step of returning to law. That is what Gezi is, it is a step towards the light."
In his defence, Kavala had stressed the European Court of Human Rights decision demanding his immediate release and had described as a "conspiratorial fiction" the idea that the protests were an attempt to overthrow the government.
A court previously acquitted people prosecuted over the 2013 protests, with a judge ruling in 2015 they were exercising the right of freedom of assembly.
But in 2017 Kavala was arrested and the following year police arrested the other 15 defendants including civil society figures, writers and actors.
The prosecutions were part of a crackdown that Turkey says is necessary on security grounds. It has involved widespread purges of the armed forces, ministries and state organisations.
In surprise move, Turkey acquits nine on charges stemming from 2013 Gezi protests
Borzou Daragahi, The Independent•February 18, 2020
Members and spokeswoman Mucella Yapici (C) of the Taksim Solidarity Platform celebrates outside the Silivri Prison and Courthouse complex in Silivri, near Istanbul on Tuesday: AFP via Getty Images
A Turkish court on Tuesday dismissed national security charges against 16 high-profile liberal and leftist activists involved in major 2013 protests against the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ignoring the recommendation of prosecutors to hand life sentences without parole to some of the defendants.
Among those acquitted and allowed to walk out of prison was Osman Kavala, a philanthropist and liberal activist held in prison for more than two years on accusations of plotting to overthrow the government, the official Anadolu news agency reported.
Liberals and leftists celebrated the decision, which comes among a string of victories for their political wing that includes the election of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu last year against the candidate of the ruling Justice and Development Party.
The European Court of Human Rights in December demanded the immediate release of Mr Kavala.
“Today’s decision is hugely welcome and confirms what has been clear to the entire world for more than two years,” said Milena Buyum, an Amnesty International official.
“The only just verdict in this baseless case, devoid of any substance, was always going to be the wholesale acquittal of those who stood trial, but in today’s Turkey this was far from guaranteed.”
The prosecutor may challenge the judge’s decision. Supporters of the government accused Mr Kavala and others of being “terrorists” because of the damage the protesters allegedly caused to private and public property as part of a secret anti-government conspiracy financed from abroad, including Hungarian-born financier and philanthropist George Soros.
"Who is behind him? The famous Hungarian Jew Soros," Mr Erdogan said in 2018.
The 2013 protest movement initially erupted out of opposition to government plans to fashion an Ottoman-style military barracks and shopping area on the site of central Istanbul’s Gezi Park but quickly escalated to include grievances against Mr Erdogan’s style and ambitions.
For a generation of Turks, it was a defining moment.
“The Gezi movement was a unique moment in time where people in Turkey demanded a new, inclusive democracy, out in the streets,” the scholar Daghan Irak, wrote on Twitter.
“Gezi was the direct antithesis of the current unlawful, autocratic regime. That's exactly why they want to criminalise it.”
Turkey’s judiciary has been subject to pressure by Mr Erdogan and his allies. But it remains unclear whether the acquitals on Tuesday were rooted in law or fresh political calculations.
There are numerous signs that Mr Erdogan’s inner circle has decided that prosecuting liberals and leftists yields few political benefits but many headaches, including international attention from human rights groups and diplomatic pressure.
There are numerous signs that Mr Erdogan’s inner circle has decided that prosecuting liberals and leftists yields few political benefits but many headaches
Pro-government television channels reported extensively on the acquittals. "They were being prosecuted for years for nothing; this is unfair," columnist Sevilay Yilman said in a television appearance on staunchly pro-government Haberturk. "The decision is fair and compatible with legal principles.”
Human rights monitors are watching closely to see the verdict on Wednesday in the case of another group of activists charged with national security crimes.
Even as the pressure on Gezi veterans eases, the government continues to crack down harshly on the Kurdish movement linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party as well as those tied to the religious movement of Fethullah Gulen, a self-exiled cleric living in the United States who is accused of masterminding a 2016 coup attempt that left 251 people dead.
Turkish authorities on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for at least 739 suspected supporters of the Gulen movement, which the government refers to as the Fethullah Terrorist Organisation, or Feto. At least 179 people have been arrested as part of a crackdown across the country that includes justice ministry officials and soldiers, the official Anadolu news agency reported.
While scores of activists, scholars, journalists and diplomats board early-morning buses to flock to the trials of the Gezi defendants, few if any show up for the Gulenists.
A Turkish court on Tuesday dismissed national security charges against 16 high-profile liberal and leftist activists involved in major 2013 protests against the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ignoring the recommendation of prosecutors to hand life sentences without parole to some of the defendants.
Among those acquitted and allowed to walk out of prison was Osman Kavala, a philanthropist and liberal activist held in prison for more than two years on accusations of plotting to overthrow the government, the official Anadolu news agency reported.
Liberals and leftists celebrated the decision, which comes among a string of victories for their political wing that includes the election of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu last year against the candidate of the ruling Justice and Development Party.
The European Court of Human Rights in December demanded the immediate release of Mr Kavala.
“Today’s decision is hugely welcome and confirms what has been clear to the entire world for more than two years,” said Milena Buyum, an Amnesty International official.
“The only just verdict in this baseless case, devoid of any substance, was always going to be the wholesale acquittal of those who stood trial, but in today’s Turkey this was far from guaranteed.”
The prosecutor may challenge the judge’s decision. Supporters of the government accused Mr Kavala and others of being “terrorists” because of the damage the protesters allegedly caused to private and public property as part of a secret anti-government conspiracy financed from abroad, including Hungarian-born financier and philanthropist George Soros.
"Who is behind him? The famous Hungarian Jew Soros," Mr Erdogan said in 2018.
The 2013 protest movement initially erupted out of opposition to government plans to fashion an Ottoman-style military barracks and shopping area on the site of central Istanbul’s Gezi Park but quickly escalated to include grievances against Mr Erdogan’s style and ambitions.
For a generation of Turks, it was a defining moment.
“The Gezi movement was a unique moment in time where people in Turkey demanded a new, inclusive democracy, out in the streets,” the scholar Daghan Irak, wrote on Twitter.
“Gezi was the direct antithesis of the current unlawful, autocratic regime. That's exactly why they want to criminalise it.”
Turkey’s judiciary has been subject to pressure by Mr Erdogan and his allies. But it remains unclear whether the acquitals on Tuesday were rooted in law or fresh political calculations.
There are numerous signs that Mr Erdogan’s inner circle has decided that prosecuting liberals and leftists yields few political benefits but many headaches, including international attention from human rights groups and diplomatic pressure.
There are numerous signs that Mr Erdogan’s inner circle has decided that prosecuting liberals and leftists yields few political benefits but many headaches
Pro-government television channels reported extensively on the acquittals. "They were being prosecuted for years for nothing; this is unfair," columnist Sevilay Yilman said in a television appearance on staunchly pro-government Haberturk. "The decision is fair and compatible with legal principles.”
Human rights monitors are watching closely to see the verdict on Wednesday in the case of another group of activists charged with national security crimes.
Even as the pressure on Gezi veterans eases, the government continues to crack down harshly on the Kurdish movement linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party as well as those tied to the religious movement of Fethullah Gulen, a self-exiled cleric living in the United States who is accused of masterminding a 2016 coup attempt that left 251 people dead.
Turkish authorities on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for at least 739 suspected supporters of the Gulen movement, which the government refers to as the Fethullah Terrorist Organisation, or Feto. At least 179 people have been arrested as part of a crackdown across the country that includes justice ministry officials and soldiers, the official Anadolu news agency reported.
While scores of activists, scholars, journalists and diplomats board early-morning buses to flock to the trials of the Gezi defendants, few if any show up for the Gulenists.
Turkish author fears for her life if she returns home
https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/02/turkish-author-fears-for-her-life-if.html
Turkey’s Erdogan Joins In on Vilification of Soros
Fercan Yalinkilic, Bloomberg•February 18, 2020
(Bloomberg) -- An Istanbul court acquitted prominent businessman Osman Kavala of charges of plotting to overthrow the government during mass protests that shook the country in 2013.
Nine defendants were cleared, and arrest warrants for others living abroad have been rescinded. Others accused in the case include actor Mehmet Ali Alabora and journalist Can Dundar, who have both left the country.
Kavala spent two years in jail while his case was tried. He was the only defendant to be incarcerated.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has alleged that Kavala was the “local collaborator” of a foreign conspiracy led by billionaire George Soros to divide Turkey by backing the demonstrations against a planned development in Istanbul’s Gezi Park.
The protests quickly morphed into the biggest challenge to the rule of Erdogan, then a powerful prime minister.
--With assistance from Ercan Ersoy.
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