Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
Osman Kavala will turn 70 next year. He has been in prison for nine years. During those nine years, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled three times that his detention and conviction violated his rights and called for his “immediate release.” Most recently, just three days ago, the ECHR once again called on Turkey to “release him.”
The parliamentary commission formed to pave the way for a new Kurdish peace process remains stuck over whether its members should visit jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. A planned session of the commission has been postponed once again, even as hopes rise for the release of imprisoned Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş following a third ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Selahattin Demirtaş, former co-chair of the HDP, has been sentenced to one year, five months and 15 days in prison over speeches he delivered in 2015–2016 despite a final and binding European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling calling for his release.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) will give priority to a review of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu's detention.