AKP MP, Turkey’s CoE representative Tuğrul Türkeş visits Gezi prisoners

Duvar English

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy and Turkey’s Council of Europe (CoE) representative Tuğrul Türkeş on July 31 visited Gezi prisoners Osman Kavala, Can Atalay, Çiğdem Mater, Tayfun Kahraman, and Mine Özerden.

In a statement, Türkeş said he visited them at Marmara, known as Silivri, and Bakırköy prisons, and thanked the justice minister and deputy minister for arranging the meeting.

Türkeş differs from the rest of the ruling AKP on the Gezi Park case, suggesting that the case should be re-tried.

Speaking to 12punto, Türkeş said, “They are all in high spirits, I didn't see any of them down. They are following the developments.” 

He said they discussed the issues the prisoners are concerned about and the judicial processes.

“It is not possible to consider 3-5 dissimilar people as the same and describe them as belonging to one group. Osman Kavala is another kind, Tayfun Kahraman is another, Can Atalay is another. Even this situation shows that it is wrong to portray them as members of the same organization,” he said.

“None of us had the same political views, that's the sweetest part. It is important for people with different political views to come together and talk under different conditions,” he added.

Türkeş also said “My main goal is to ensure that the judicial processes in our country are conducted within the law. This is being discussed, which is a good thing.”

“I am happy if I could give them one hour of breathing space,” he concluded.

The Gezi Park case

Hundreds of thousands marched in Istanbul and elsewhere in Turkey in 2013 as demonstrations against plans to build replica Ottoman barracks in the city's Gezi Park grew into nationwide protests against Erdoğan's government.

Erdoğan has equated the protesters to “terrorists,” and has personally accused Kavala numerous times of being the financier of the protests.

Kavala received an aggravated life sentence in the case, whereas Can Atalay, Tayfun Kahraman, Mine Özerden, and Çiğdem Mater Utku received 18-year prison sentences.

The verdict was seen as symbolic of a crackdown on dissent under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and the punishment of the government's perceived foes through the judiciary. All have denied the charges, saying the protests developed spontaneously.

The ECHR ruled that Turkey violated multiple articles of the Convention by imprisoning Osman Kavala, and demanded his immediate release.

Following the final sentences in the case, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe initiated infringement proceedings against Turkey. The proceedings could result in Turkey's eventual suspension from the Council of Europe, although it is one of the founding members of the council.

Recently, the prisoners have been demanding retrial, arguing that “the victim of the crime,” the Prime Ministry, “has been abolished, abrogated, and eliminated by the constitutional reform,” with the transition to the presidential system.