Osman Kavala has been in prison for 3,165 days. For the uninitiated, Kavala is a Turkish businessman and philanthropist who has been falsely and derisively accused of helping to create the July 2016 coup attempt in Turkey.
Ekrem Imamoglu has been in prison for 470 days. Turkish authorities accuse him of insulting Istanbul’s chief prosecutor, corruption, and espionage, but his real crime was being Turkey’s most popular politician and a formidable competitor to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Osman Kavala has been in prison for 3,165 days. For the uninitiated, Kavala is a Turkish businessman and philanthropist who has been falsely and derisively accused of helping to create the July 2016 coup attempt in Turkey.
Ekrem Imamoglu has been in prison for 470 days. Turkish authorities accuse him of insulting Istanbul’s chief prosecutor, corruption, and espionage, but his real crime was being Turkey’s most popular politician and a formidable competitor to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In May, a Turkish court declared that local elections for the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) were annulled. Human Rights Watch called “a devastating blow to the rule of law, democracy and human rights.” Instead of ordering a vote, the court put the former leader of the CHP, a failed and weak politician, in charge of the party, effectively destroying it.
Supporters of the Turkish government claim that Kavala and Imamoglu were prosecuted in accordance with the Turkish legal system and that the CHP leadership contest was rigged. Of course, the authorities always enshrine their oppression in law. What happened to Kavala, Imamoglu, CHP leadership, and many others is no longer surprising in Erdogan’s Turkey. There are thousands of political opponents—real and perceived—of the Turkish leader and his Justice and Development Party who have had their property confiscated, families abused, and freedoms taken away in a politicized justice system.
What is surprising is the silence of senior leaders in the United States and abroad, including political figures who tend to consider democratic values and human rights in the Western world view and yet they have said only one word about Ankara’s terrible record. How scary? If Turkey wanted to become a NATO member now instead of in 1952, it would not meet the criteria of democracy, rule of law and human rights.
Let’s start with US President Donald Trump. In his first term, he immediately highlighted Erdogan’s human rights record because the American was imprisoned and Trump saw an opportunity to benefit politically from his release. In July 2018, Trump he tweeted“The US will impose heavy sanctions on Turkey for the prolonged detention of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being. He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!” Brunson had been preaching in Izmir on Turkey’s west coast for decades and had been inexplicably imprisoned after a failed coup several months earlier. Brunson’s case was important to Trump’s evangelical supporters and thus important to the president.
In his second term, things got worse. Trump appointed an ambassador who often repeats Ankara’s talks and seems to be confused about who he represents and even where he comes from. The president has repeatedly said that he wants Turkey back in the F-35 program despite buying a Russian air defense system and a congressional law that prohibits the US from returning Turkey as long as Ankara owns Russian weapons. And the White House he announced his interest in selling American jet engines to Turkey’s domestic fighter jets.
One might expect this behavior from Trump, who has a yen for authoritarian leaders and especially for Erdogan. But for many members of Congress, human rights are an important issue. Few in Washington want to return to the days of the Freedom Agenda, when the United States embarked on a neo-colonial drive to change the politics and society of countries around the Middle East, but the United States should stand for something, at least in words. Many members of Congress may agree, but they have not been as vocal as Trump about the Turkish government’s violations. This is surprising, especially considering how much time and attention the leading Democrats and Republicans have spent on human rights in China, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Cuba, North Korea and especially Israel. As one congressional staffer whose boss is interested in Turkey said, “Everybody up here just wants to talk about Mrs. (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu).”
In fairness, the Tom Lantos Commission on Human Rights, a bipartisan congressional body, recently held a hearing on Turkey. Only three of the 51 members of the commission attended. While members of Congress on both sides of the aisle are selective in their criticism, it betrays and belies much of their anger about the human rights records of China, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Cuba, North Korea and Israel. If Kavala and Imamoglu do not deserve solidarity, who does?
What about European countries and other middle powers? In fact, they can be relied upon to be at the center of the rule of law and democracy. In January, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney galvanized the world’s liberal elite with his “outbreak”. speech at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, which included these lines:
I would like to tell you that some countries, especially middle powers like Canada, are not powerful. They have the ability to build a new order that includes our values, such as respect for human rights, sustainable development, solidarity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of various nations.
Yet six months after Carney’s remarks and two days after ousted CHP leaders called on members to oppose the government’s tough measures, the Turkish and Canadian trade ministers agreed to an investigation. conversation on free trade. Carney will eat away at his Davos speech for the rest of his life, but Turks and Turkey-watchers know it’s worth nothing more than Farmer’s Breakfast Wrap and a Two Two at Tim Hortons (about 7.50CAD).
The Europeans are also silent. At least they have a (semi-) defensible reason. Because they disarmed after the Cold War, Trump is untrustworthy, and Russia is a threat, Europeans believe they need Turkey for their protection. As a result, they clearly chose to remain mum on Erdogan’s domestic politics ahead of the NATO summit. Knowing Erdogan—who hopes to show Ankara’s importance to Western security—he will interpret Europe’s silence as acquiescence. He is probably right.
The next time a member of Congress, a Canadian official, or a European leader wags a finger at human rights violations, let’s not take them too seriously. They don’t mean it. If they did, they would call out Erdogan for unjustly imprisoning his opponents, destroying the opposition and destroying Turkish democracy.
