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15 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 27 OCTOBER 2021 NEWS These articles are part of a content series called Ewropej. This is a multi-newsroom initiative part-funded by the European Parliament to bring the work of the EP closer to the citizens of Malta and keep them informed about matters that affect their daily lives. These articles reflect only the authors' view. The European Parliament is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. TURKISH president Reccep Er- doğan issued instructions to his foreign minister yesterday to have ten ambassadors expelled from Turkey. The countries concerned are Canada, France, Finland, Den- mark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the United States of America. The move comes after the na- tions in question issued requests that prominent Turkish entrepre- neur and philanthropist Osman Kavala be released from prison. Kavala has been imprisoned without a sentence for close to four years now, with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) recently issuing a final warning on the case. The Spanish MEP and standing rapporteur for Turkey, Nacho Sánchez Amor (S&D) as well as the chair of the EU-Turkey par- liamentary delegation Sergey La- godinsky (Greens/EFA, DE) called Erdoğan's decision "incompre- hensible and completely baseless". "We can only understand them as an attempt to divert attention from the real urgent issues, do- mestic and bilateral. It is not these ambassadors or their govern- ments who decided it is Turkey's responsibility to release Osman Kavala. It is the European Court of Human Rights that ordered his immediate release in December 2019, reiterated afterwards by six decisions and an interim resolu- tion by the Committee of Min- isters of the Council of Europe. Turkey is therefore obliged to respect this Court's decision, just as it is under the obligation to fol- low a similar ruling on Selahattin Demirtaş." The MEPs accused of Turkey of having a serious deficit in rule of law, and called for comprehensive reforms. "It is unacceptable that attacks on critical voices and interference with the judiciary have continu- ously been happening in Turkey. It is more than unfortunate that now an attempt has been made to silence the criticism from abroad. Our position on Osman Kavala's case and criticism of other democ- racy deficits in Turkey will remain undeterred despite this sad devel- opment," the MEPs said. They warned that Europe would be on the verge of a serious diplo- matic crisis unless averted now. "We call on Turkish authorities to refrain from steps that could result in an even worse scenario in our relations than the diffi- cult period we have been living through during the recent years, a crisis that we just were hoping to overcome. Once again, we call on Turkey to comply with its in- ternational commitments and abide by the ECtHR rulings with regard, among others, to the cases of Osman Kavala and Selahattin Demirtaş." The Council of Europe said the Turkish Assize Court's decision to prolong the detention of Osman Kavala was a violation of Turkey's obligation to abide by a final judg- ment of the ECHR. Kavala has been in detention for 46 months despite the December 2019 judgment that found that the authorities had targeted him in order to silence him, as part of a dissuasive effect on the work of human rights defenders. The Council of Europe accused the Turkish justice system of ex- hibiting "unprecedented levels of disregard" for basic principles of law. "Kavala should have not been in detention in the first place. His prolonged, illegal detention dis- plays contempt for human rights and the rule of law. He must be released now." Apart from being a successful businessman, Kavala is a well- known civil-society figure in Tur- key who over the years contribut- ed to the establishment of several publishing houses and civil society organizations. Kavala stands accused of financ- ing nationwide "Gezi Park pro- tests" in 2013 as well as involve- ment in the 2016 attempted coup. Once he was acquitted of the first charge he was almost immediately slapped with the other, even after that would not stand he was kept in custody on charges of "political or military espionage." Despite being acquitted several times and multiple ECHR rulings he remains in custody. Most recently the ruling on the Gezi park trial was reversed as well as Kavala's case being merged with another coup case accusing him of collaborating with Hen- ri Barkey, a prominent Turkish scholar in the United States. On top of that, Kavala's charges were also merged into the "Car- si" trial pertaining to 35 members of the Besiktas football fan group Carsi who also stand accused of aiding or abetting a coup. The Council of Europe issued its final warning on the 17 Septem- berm stating that infringement procedures would be levelled against Ankara if they do not re- lease Kavala by the end of Novem- ber 2021. Turkey refuses to acknowledge these rulings and warnings. MEPs warn of Turkey diplomatic crisis as ambassadors expelled Turkish president Reccep Erdogan Imprisoned Turkish businessman Osman Kavala