Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, responded with frustration to questions about the jailing of dissidents, in an interview with PBS on Monday.
Journalist Amna Nawaz pointed to high-profile arrests, including businessman Osman Kavala and former Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş, and asked if the government was trying to silence these individuals or if it considered them a threat.
“Why are you so interested in this?” Erdoğan retorted in response, saying that Turkey has a state of law and such decisions can only be made by the judiciary.
“I’m not in a position to serve in the name of the judiciary. This man you have referred to [Kavala] was a financier during these demonstrations, during these protests,” Erdoğan said.
Referring to Demirtaş, he added, “He is a terrorist who caused the death of more than 200 people, and the judgement on this terrorist was given by the judiciary again.”
When Nawaz tried to remind him that the European Court of Human Rights did not agree with this assessment, Erdoğan became visibly irritated and said, “Don’t interrupt. You have no right to interrupt. You won’t interrupt me. And, respect me. And you will also respect the judgement of the judiciary.”
Nawaz then went on to ask why there are so many journalists in jail in Turkey.
“If they were supportive of terrorism, those who are supporting terrorism, where would they live or roam freely around the world? These people have been supportive of terrorism. They were supporting terrorism, and that the judiciary made judgements on these people,” Erdoğan responded.
Erdoğan’s comments in New York contradict his previous statements. Earlier this year, he said of Demirtaş: “As long as I am in power, he will not be released from prison.”
The detention of Kavala and Demirtaş has been the subject of international concern and debate, with various international organisations, including the ECHR, calling for their release.