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The Hypocrisy That Shields Erdogan From Global Criticism

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02.07.2026

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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 ridiculously accused of helping to engineer the attempted July 2016 coup 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 the most popular politician in Turkey and a compelling 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 ridiculously accused of helping to engineer the attempted July 2016 coup 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 the most popular politician in Turkey and a compelling competitor to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In May, a Turkish court declared the internal elections of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) null in a move Human Rights Watch called a “deeply damaging blow to the rule of law, democracy and human rights.” Instead of ordering a revote, the court placed the CHP’s previous leader, a failed and weak politician, atop the party, effectively destroying it.

Supporters of the Turkish government contend that Kavala and Imamoglu were prosecuted in accordance with Turkey’s legal system and that the CHP leadership contest was rife with fraud. Of course,........

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