Turkey needs to 'find a formula' for Demirtaş, Kavala, says ruling AKP's deputy head

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The deputy chair of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Hayati Yazıcı, has made comments about the incarceration of businessperson Osman Kavala and politician Selahattin Demirtaş despite ECtHR judgments.

"I don't find it right to talk while the trial is in progress. But I have always believed that members of the judiciary don't do something unless it's needed; they don'T give verdicts that aren't needed," Yazıcı told pro-government daily Hürriyet in an interview published yesterday (March 22).

However, he said, as Turkey accepts ECtHR judgments, it needs to "find a formula to meet their requirements."

Demirtaş and Kavala have been remanded in custody since November 2016 and November 2017, respectively. The courts did not release them despite rulings by the European top court, including an ECtHR Grand Chamber ruling.

On the same day the interview was published, the court ruled for the continuation of Kavala's arrest in the latest hearing of the Gezi Park trial. Kavala is facing an aggravated life sentence for having allegedly organized the 2013 Gezi Park protests.

Infringement proceedings

Last month, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe decided to launch infringement proceedings against Turkey for its failure to comply with the ECtHR decisions.

About the Kavala case, President and AKP Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had previously said, "We don't recognize those who don't recognize our courts. We expect our courts to be respected."

About the ECtHR Grand Chamber ruling on Demirtaş, Erdoğan had said the European court had given its decision without the domestic remedies being exhausted. "In fact, the ECtHR cannot give a verdict to replace our courts," he had said. (TP/VK)