Since his imprisonment in October 2017 at the high security prison of Silivri, near Istanbul, he has proclaimed his innocence. Monday, April 25, Osman Kavala was sentenced to life imprisonment for having tried, according to the prosecution, to overthrow the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Osman Kavala will not be able to benefit from any remission of sentence, specified the judges. The defense had demanded his acquittal for lack of evidence and denounced the relentlessness of power against a man designated as a “enemy within”.
Since then, Western capitals such as Paris and Washington have denounced the condemnation of this committed philanthropist, known for his support for cultural projects relating in particular to the rights of minorities, the Kurdish question and Armenian-Turkish reconciliation.
Born in 1957 in Paris, Osman Kavala studied economics at the University of Manchester, in the United Kingdom, before taking the helm of the family business on the death of his father in 1982. Then he is gradually devoted to publishing, art and culture, inaugurating in 1982 the Iletisim publishing house, which has become one of the most prestigious in Turkey, devoted to works on the democratization of this country.
Allowing Turkish society to debate difficult subjects, including the Armenian genocide, through cultural projects, will still be one of the missions of Anadolu Kültür, a foundation he created in 2002. Humble but stubborn; courteous but direct; directive but never condescending: so speaks his entourage of this ambitious publisher who is not afraid to tackle the most sensitive and divisive themes.
To host the exhibitions, Osman Kavala transformed an old tobacco depot he had inherited into a cultural center, now called Depo. “I’ve never seen him reject anyone who came up with an interesting idea, whether it was a literary or a film project,” says Asena Günal, the director of Anadolu Kültür.
In 2013, Osman Kavala found himself in the crosshairs of the Turkish authorities for his support for anti-government protests known as the Gezi movement, which occurred when Recep Tayyip Erdogan was prime minister. Subsequently, the charges, which Kavala described as “whimsical”, will accumulate against him, including those of attempted coup and espionage.
Osman Kavala was arrested on October 18, 2017 at Istanbul airport. His imprisonment makes him one of the symbols of the repression against civil society in Turkey, especially since the failed putsch of July 2016 which was followed by massive purges. In 2020, while he is in prison, he is acquitted in one of the cases against him, concerning an attempt to overthrow the government in 2013, but he does not have time to enjoy the slightest moment of freedom: he immediately the subject of a new arrest warrant in relation to the 2016 putsch attempt.
Over the years, the Turkish press loyal to the government dubbed him “The Red Billionaire”, comparing him to the American businessman of Hungarian origin George Soros, the pet peeve of several leaders of authoritarian regimes around the world. President Erdogan himself has repeatedly accused him of being “the representative in Turkey” of Soros and “funding terrorists”. His lawyer, Ilkan Koyuncu, assured him in 2020 that“no proof” existed against his client.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) called for his release. In vain. “Prolonging my detention on such fragile grounds is tantamount to an extrajudicial execution”, Kavala said in a statement on Friday, denouncing “statements that defy reason and logic”. He is due to appear again on November 26.
“Osman has always been able to appreciate the value of civil initiatives for the common good”, says Emma Sinclair-Webb of the NGO Human Rights Watch. “He is the last person who could support a coup. It is appalling to see him targeted in an incomprehensible political game.”
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After the announcement of the conviction of Osman Kavala, France “deeply deplored” Tuesday, April 26 the life sentence of the Turkish patron and demanded his “immediate release” as well as “the dropping of all charges against him”. “This civil society figure has been detained for more than four and a half years, in violation of Turkey’s international obligations”, in particular under the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, said the spokesperson for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Council of Europe, which has already initiated a sanction procedure against Ankara because of its refusal to cooperate in this file, called once again on Tuesday for the release “without further ado” of the publisher and patron. “I am deeply disappointed by the sentence of life imprisonment handed down yesterday by an Istanbul court against Osman Kavala”, regretted the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Tiny Kox, in a press release.
The United States is said to be Monday, April 25 “deeply troubled and disappointed” by the life sentence of the Turkish patron. “His unjust sentence is contrary to respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement, calling on Turkish authorities to release him.