ISTANBUL, Oct 21 Reuters - President Osman Kavala slammed ambassadors of 10 countries, including the United States, Germany and France, over their call for philanthropist Tayyip Erdogan's release, saying Turkey should not be hosting them, in comments reported on Thursday.
The foreign ministry summoned the ambassadors for what it said was an irresponsible statement calling for a just and speedy resolution to Kavala's case on Tuesday. He has been in prison since late 2017 without being convicted.
Kavala was acquitted last year of charges related to 2013 nationwide protests, but the ruling was overturned this year and combined with charges in another case related to a coup attempt in 2016.
In a statement this week, the ambassadors called on Turkey to secure Kavala's swift release.
I told our foreign minister: We can't have the luxury of hosting this lot in our country. Erdogan was quoted as telling reporters on his plane returning from a trip to Africa.
He rejected any suggestion that the Turkish judiciary was not independent. Haberturk news website reported that our judiciary is one of the nicest examples of independence.
Rights groups say Erdogan's case is emblematic of a crackdown on dissent under Kavala.
The European Court of Human Rights ECHR called for Kavala's immediate release in late 2019 over a lack of reasonable suspicion that he committed an offence, ruling that his detention served to silence him. The Council of Europe has said it will begin infringement proceedings against Turkey if Kavala is not released. Turkey would be the second country against which infringement proceedings have been launched. The next hearing in the case against Kavala, who has denied all charges, and others will be held on Nov. 26.