The judicial process that led to the arrest of Turkish social activist and philanthropist Osman Kavala involved some quirky judicial practices – aside from the inherent controversy of the case.
Osman Kavala, known for his philanthropic civil society work, was detained by police at Istanbul’s Atatürk International Airport on the night of Oct. 18.
The Good Party, established last week under the leadership of Meral Akşener, has emerged as a new factor in Turkey’s political scene that must be taken into account by all other actors.
My recent article on who opposed the 2010-11 “tape operations” against Deniz Baykal, who was main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader at the time, and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, was based on a new prosecutor’s indictment.
The text was signed by Yunus Yazar, the head of the Turkish police’s intelligence department, on Feb. 7, 2008, but the part reading “Identification of the person on whom a cautionary judgement will be imposed” was left blank.
I was not aware of the surprise waiting for me when I read the indictment describing illegal wiretapping and monitoring of former main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal and members of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
The turbulence that has broken out with the arrest of a Turkish citizen working at the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul, the U.S. ban on visa applications in Turkey, and Ankara’s response in kind, looks like no crisis we have ever come across in the history of Turkey-U.S. relations.
One cannot view the United States’ sharing of important evidence, which could seriously impact the most important trial on the July 2016 coup attempt, as an ordinary judicial topic.
Kemal Batmaz is a key figure in the July 15 coup attempt, who was identified to be at the Akıncı Air Base—the command center for the putsch—on that night by security cameras.
