Press Release Regarding the Decision Adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe at its 1423rd Session on the Execution of the ECtHR Judgment of Kavala v. Türkiye (No. 28749/18)

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe had adopted a decision on 2 December 2021 and notified Türkiye the intention of referring the Kavala case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to determine whether Türkiye has executed the judgment of Kavala v. Türkiye and requested our views on the matter.

In line with the spirit of cooperation we have displayed so far, our Government shared our views with the Council of Europe on 19 January 2022, in which we explained in detail that the ECtHR’s judgment has been executed, that Kavala’s detention was the result of another judicial proceeding and that the matter should be examined based on legal principles.

Despite this, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted an interim decision today (2 February 2022) by a majority vote, that the case of Kavala be referred to the ECtHR. Thereby, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has maintained its stance that interferes with the independence of the judicial proceedings and violated the principle of respect for judicial proceedings.

While there is a large number of judgments that are waiting to be executed by the member states on the agenda of the Committee of Ministers, which supervises the execution of the judgments of the ECtHR, constantly bringing the Kavala judgment forward on the agenda is a malicious, intentional and inconsistent approach.

It is evident that this prejudiced and politically motivated decision, which disregards the domestic proceedings, damages the credibility of the European human rights system.

In order to ensure effectiveness of the Council of Europe’s human rights system, the Committee of Ministers should set aside its biased and selective approach. Our expectation is that the ECtHR assesses this decision on a fair basis; and considering the pending domestic proceedings, does not act as a first instance court; and delivers its judgment in accordance with its case-law and principles, as well as the European Convention on Human Rights.