Mehmet Osman KAVALA
Publisher, civil and cultural rights activist, and philanthropist Osman Kavala continues to serve a life sentence upheld on 28 September 2023 by Türkiye’s Court of Cassation. The court also upheld 18-year prison sentences against his co-defendants Çiğdem Mater, Can Atalay, Mine Özerden and Tayfun Kahraman (three other defendants – Mücella Yapıcı, Hakan Altınay and Yiğit Ali Ekmekçi – were acquitted in February 2025).
Kavala – who has been detained continuously since 18 October 2017 – and eight co-defendants present in court were acquitted on 18 February 2020 of all charges related to alleged crimes committed by protestors across Türkiye during the 2013 Gezi Park protests. However, in January 2021, the Istanbul regional appeals court overturned the acquittals, and in April 2022, Kavala was convicted of ‘attempting to overthrow the government’ and sentenced to aggravated life in prison. Seven co-defendants – Çiğdem Mater, Can Atalay, Mine Özerden, Tayfun Kahraman, Mücella Yapıcı Hakan Altınay and Yiğit Ali Ekmekçi – were sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment. Their sentences were upheld on appeal in December 2022. In February 2022, the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers voted to begin infringement proceedings against Türkiye over its failure to abide by a December 2019 ruling from the European Court of Human Rights urging Kavala’s immediate release.
In April 2024, the European Court of Human Rights published details of and granted priority status to a second case lodged by Kavala in January 2024, concerning violations of the European Convention on Human Rights perpetrated against him since the Court’s ruling of December 2019 (Articles 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11 and 18). The case was referred by the Court to Türkiye on 21 March 2024, which appeared to have failed to comply with a request to reply by 16 July 2024.
Osman Kavala, born on 2 October 1957, has dedicated his life to promoting open dialogue and peace, human rights, and democratic values in Türkiye. He is a prominent businessman who helped establish a number of civil society organisations, including Anadolu Kültür. He also helped found İletişim Publishing in 1983, which has since become one of Türkiye’s largest publishing houses.