Anger in Turkey over the ECHR decision on Osman Kavala - Rejected the decision as "unacceptable"

At the same time, Mehmet Ucsum, a senior adviser to the Turkish president, claimed that the ECHR makes decisions of a “political nature” and left open the possibility of reviewing the country’s relationship with the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Turkish government has openly questioned the logic behind the ECHR’s decision, considering that the case of Osman Kavala constitutes yet another example of the Court exceeding its limits to the detriment of the country. The Turkish Ministry of Justice described the decision as “the latest example of the ECHR’s biased attitude towards Turkey”.

What does Turkey claim about Kavala's guilt?
In addition, it criticized the methodology for examining the appeal and the judgments of the Court, emphasizing that they conflict with the established case law of the European institution itself.

The Ministry of Justice supported the verdict of the Turkish judicial authorities, noting that Kavala was convicted, by courts characterized as independent and impartial, for the role he played in the Gezi protests.

According to the Turkish side, Kavala was found guilty of his participation in the organization, planning, management and financing of the demonstrations, resulting in a life sentence with aggravating circumstances for attempting to overthrow the government order.

ECtHR claims ‘totally unacceptable’
Ankara claims that the ECtHR violated its jurisdiction by interfering with the substance of the final decision of the Turkish courts. The Turkish Justice Ministry claimed that the ECtHR effectively “annulled” Kavala’s conviction, while accusing the Court of ignoring fundamental principles of international law and “appropriating” the competences of Turkey’s domestic courts.

The Turkish leadership also rejects the Court’s allegations of bad faith on the part of the Turkish judicial and administrative authorities. The Justice Ministry described the specific allegations as “totally unacceptable”, escalating its criticism of the ECtHR and the reasoning behind its verdict.

In an even more pointed tone, the Turkish president’s advisor, Mehmet Ucsum, took a stand on the issue in a post on the X platform. Ucsum expressed the view that the ECHR is weakening its credibility in Turkey, as it continues to issue decisions with “political content.”

He further argued that Turkey is under pressure to reassess its position as a party to the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as the right of citizens to individual appeals to the ECHR. Ucsum went further, linking the ongoing convictions against Turkey to the possibility of a generalized crisis in the European human rights protection system. He warned that if the ECHR insists on issuing decisions against Turkey for political purposes, the revision of the country’s relationship with the European Convention will become a one-way street. Such a turn, according to him, could even lead to the collapse of the ECHR system.

At the same time, Uçum criticized the European Parliament rapporteur on Turkey, Naço Sánchez Amor, whom he accused of "audacity"