(Bloomberg) -- The Council of Europe gave Turkey formal notice that it intends to ask the European Court of Human Rights to rule on whether Ankara has failed to fulfill its legal obligations by not releasing philanthropist and businessman Osman Kavala.
Turkey has been heavily criticized by its traditional western allies for taking Kavala as a political prisoner. A Turkish court last week ordered the 64-year-old to remain in jail, where he's been for more than four years.
He's currently on trial on charges of conspiring to overthrow the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a failed coup attempt in 2016. Kavala denies taking part in the putsch effort.
The council reminded Turkey of its obligation to abide by the European court's earlier ruling calling for Kavala's release under the European Convention for Human Rights, and it invited Ankara to submit its view on the question by Jan. 19.
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The Council of Europe is an organization of European countries that seeks to protect democracy and human rights and to promote European unity headquartered in Strasbourg, France.
Ahead of the formal notification, Turkey urged the council late Thursday to respect its judicial proceedings and avoid taking steps that would amount to “interference in the independence judiciary,” according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry.
“Everyone, and above all the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, should respect and trust in legal proceedings conducted by independent and impartial courts,” the statement said. “It should stop this biased and selective approach and address the execution of ECHR judgments in an impartial way with respect to all member states.”
Turkey's relationship with some of its allies in the West came to the brink of collapse in October when Erdogan threatened envoys from 10 countries, including the U.S. and Germany, with expulsion after they demanded the philanthropist's release.
Kavala is also facing charges of financing and organizing the months-long Gezi Park protests against Erdogan in 2013, charges that saw the Turkish businessman put in jail in 2017. He was eventually acquitted but a higher court overturned the decision, paving the way for further judicial proceedings.
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