Turki himself opposes Kavala being awarded the “Vaclav Havel Prize”.
Turkey has objected to awarding the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize for 2023, awarded by the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, to Osman Kavala, a Turkish businessman sentenced to life in prison.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement (Tuesday): “It is unacceptable that the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize be awarded to someone who has been finally convicted by the judiciary in Turkey.”
Life sentence
Last month, a court of cassation in Turkey upheld a life sentence for Kavala (age 66) and 18 years in prison against four others, including Labor MP Kane Attale. Party in May. Last, during the May 2013 Gezi Park protests in Istanbul, in the context of aiding an attempt to overthrow the government.
Imprisoned Turkish civil activist Osman Kavala (Archives – AFP)
The court dropped charges against three other defendants, including two who are already in jail.
The Kavala case has sparked sharp disagreements between Turkey, the United States and the European Union, with the West viewing it as “politicized.”
The leader of the Republican People’s Party, the largest opposition party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, described the verdict as a “huge shame”, criticizing the judiciary for participating in “criminalizing” Gezi’s “struggle” for democracy through its rulings. “According to instructions.” given to him.
Human Rights Award
Denny Cox, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which presents the prize, announced his award to Kavala: “Today, more than ever, it is important to celebrate women and men of courage and determination. And strength, show us the path to freedom. “Their battle is an example to us all.”
Turkish academic Ayesha Kavala received the award worth 60,000 euros on her husband’s behalf (Monday). On his behalf he read a statement in which Kavala dedicated the award to “his comrades who are illegally detained in Turkish prisons”.
Opponents of Gavala’s verdict demonstrate in Istanbul in April 2022 (Reuters)
Named after Vaclav Havel, a former Czech dissident and later President of the Czech Republic, the award has been presented by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe since 2013.
Turkish Refusal
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said: “It is unacceptable that the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize for 2023 be awarded to someone who has been irrevocably convicted by the judiciary in Turkey. Council of Europe), which should act under the guidance of democratic principles.” Human rights and the rule of law is to ignore the gains of the Council of Europe about the ideal of human rights and the collective efforts made over the years. This ideal.”
“Awarding a final judgment against someone is an extension of attempts to politicize the law,” the statement asserted. He said: “International organizations that are expected to serve to protect common values should not be used as a tool for such attempts to set political agendas. By this action, disrespecting the judicial decision, the reputation and credibility of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has been seriously damaged.
Last Friday, opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu visited Kavala in Marmara prison on the outskirts of Istanbul and 4 people convicted in the “Kezi” case. He described their detention as “illegal”.
Kilicdaroglu said: “It is my duty to further clarify this injustice.” We must stand with the victims of this injustice and those wrongfully and illegally imprisoned.
Kavala, a French citizen, was born in Paris in 1957. He began his studies at a Turkish school in Istanbul before moving to Britain to complete his university education at the University of Manchester. In 1982, he returned to Istanbul to run the family business after his father’s death. He was active in the preservation of Turkish heritage and its cultural diversity through the government-closed “Anatolia Cultural Center”, he founded the “Elichim” publishing house, and was a supporter of the rebuilding of historical monuments, including Armenian churches.
Demonstrators wave banners and chant slogans in support of Turkish activist Osman Gavala in Istanbul in April 2022 (AFP)
Kavala’s name emerged in 2013 as one of the main activists of the protest movement against the government’s cutting of part of Gezi Park to support the development of Taksim Square in Istanbul, which soon turned into widespread protests against Erdogan, who headed the government. became the President of the country.an attempt to overthrow him.
Kavala is known for defending Kurdish and Armenian issues, and in 2015 he participated in the centennial commemoration of the Armenian Genocide in Istanbul, noting that Turkish authorities still refuse to recognize the massacres of Armenians during World War II. I called it “genocide”.
In 2017, Kavala called for a boycott of a referendum to amend the constitution, which aims to transition to a presidential system and strengthen President Erdogan’s powers. He was arrested on October 18 that year.
Kavala accused Erdogan of being the hand of Hungarian-born American billionaire George Soros, calling him the “Red Soros of Turkey” and vowing that he would not be released from prison as long as he was in power in Turkey.
The West views Kavala as a symbol of the sweeping campaign of repression launched by Erdogan after the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016, which led to the arrest of hundreds of thousands of people and the closure of media outlets, schools and universities. It was considered a campaign to suppress any voice of dissent.
The European Court of Human Rights issued more than one decision calling for the immediate release of Kavala, but Erdogan rejected it.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus condemned the catastrophe suffered by the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and called for an end to the destruction.
“The impact of conflict on health is devastating,” he said at the start of a special session of the World Health Organization’s executive committee in Geneva.
The Council later adopted a resolution to expand humanitarian aid exports.
Tedros again called for a humanitarian ceasefire that could help civilians at risk of death due to lack of basic supplies.
More than 17,700 people have died in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas Health Ministry.
About 1.9 million of the Gaza Strip’s total population of 2.2 million were displaced, and tens of thousands of homes were destroyed.
During the session, Tedros condemned the Hamas attack on Israel that left 1,200 people dead and 240 kidnapped, and said he understood Israel’s anger, sadness and fear.
Tedros added that he understands the anger, sadness and fear of the people of Gaza, who have suffered for 16 years under the Israeli blockade and are now suffering the destruction of their families, homes and the life they knew. .
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Youm7 publishes a video of the four presidential candidates running for the 2024 presidential election voting in the election process on the first day of voting in the 2024 presidential election.
And bear witness Egyptian presidential election Four candidates contested: presidential candidate Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egyptian Social Democratic Party leader Farid Zahran, Waft Party leader Dr. Abdel-Sanat Yamama, and Republican Party leader Hazem Omar.
2024 Presidential Election This is the fifth multiparty presidential election the country has seen in its modern history. 2024 election Its added significance is that it is an important step on the state’s path towards democratic transition, party pluralism and political competitiveness, which came after a year and a half of intensive and unprecedented national dialogue, which included all Egyptian political, trade union and civil elements. Society.
The list of candidates contesting the presidential election includes: Presidential candidate Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Star symbol and presidential candidate Farid Zahran Leader of the Egyptian Democratic Party, symbol of the sun and presidential candidate Abdul Sind Yamama Waft Party leader, palm tree symbol and presidential candidate Hazem Umar Ladder symbol.
The 2024 presidential elections will be held in Egypt on December 10, 11 and 12 as per the schedule set by the National Electoral Commission, with voting taking place from 9 am to 9 pm. It was set to end on December 13. The sorting process will involve sending the entries to the public bodies and announcing the results on December 18.
Dozens of people were killed and wounded in an Israeli attack on the southern Gaza Strip.
Today (Sunday), the Israeli army tightens its grip on southern Gaza, while hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents try to escape the army’s violent battles against the Hamas movement.
On Sunday morning, Hamas announced in a statement that “occupation warplanes continued their most violent attacks in areas south of the city of Khan Yunis,” speaking of a “belt of fire with dozens of attacks targeting the road between Khan.” Younis and Rafa, as reported by the “Hamas Agency”, a French newspaper.
He added that this was “accompanied by intense Israeli artillery fire near the Gaza European Hospital in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip.”
In turn, the Palestinian News Agency reported that 10 people were killed and dozens injured in a bombardment carried out by Israeli planes targeting a house in Khan Yunis early today (Sunday). He added that most of the dead were children, as reported by the Arab World News Agency.
Palestinian television reported on Sunday that 45 people had died since evening at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza Strip as a result of Israeli bombing.
The Palestinian News Agency reported that Israeli military aircraft carried out violent attacks on Deir al-Balah and the Nusirat, al-Maqasi and al-Jawaita camps in the central Gaza Strip, as well as the al-Tufa and al-Shujaya neighborhoods east of Gaza. The city and several areas in the northern Gaza Strip.
The Jordanian army said in a statement today (Sunday), citing an official military source from the Jordanian army’s general command, that there were no casualties or material damage due to the shelling of a Jordanian field hospital in southern Gaza. and continued Israeli bombardment of the Strip resulting in smoke bombs.
He added: “The General Command of the Armed Forces confirms the continuation of the work of the medical teams in the Gaza Strip and their fulfillment of their humanitarian duty to the families and brothers in the area.”
The Palestinian News Agency reported late yesterday (Saturday) that an Israeli military artillery attack targeted a Jordanian field hospital in Khan Yunis, south of Gaza. But there were no casualties in the blast. He added that the cannon fired a shell at the hospital, causing damage and loss.
On Saturday, Israel confirmed its intention to “intensify pressure” in its attack on Hamas in Gaza, a day after the United States used its veto against a draft resolution calling for an “immediate ceasefire on humanitarian grounds” at the UN Security Council.
Israeli army chief Herzey Halevi called for “intensification of military pressure” on Hamas. For his part, Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi announced on Israeli Channel 12 that “more than 7,000 terrorists” had been killed in Gaza.
At the start of its ground offensive, the Israeli army asked residents of the northern Gaza Strip to move south. But after fighting intensified in the south and the United States used its veto at the United Nations against a resolution proposing a ceasefire, public fears in the Gaza Strip grew. Especially in the south.
Most of the 1.9 million people displaced by the war have gone south to the Gaza Strip, turning Rafah, which borders Egypt, into a large refugee camp.
Death Penalty
In parallel, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in Southern Gaza (UNRWA)-affiliated shelters, amid overcrowding and poor sanitary conditions, have seen a significant increase in infectious diseases such as diarrhea, acute respiratory infections and skin infections. .
UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East, Adel Ghadr, said: “Nearly a million children have been forcibly displaced from their homes, further and further south, into small, overcrowded areas with no water, food or security.” He added: “Restrictions on the delivery of life-saving aid through the Gaza Strip are another death sentence for children.”
The death toll continues to rise, with the Hamas health ministry reporting that the bodies of at least 133 Palestinians have been transferred to hospitals in the past 24 hours.
The latest tally released by the ministry on Saturday evening put 17,700 people, most of them women and children, dead in the Strip since the war began.
The war erupted following an unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to Israeli officials. The movement took about 240 hostages, of whom 138 are still being held.
In response, Israel vowed to “destroy” Hamas, continued heavy bombardment of the Gaza Strip and began ground operations inside it since October 27.
