Ankara frees Amnesty International chair
Amnesty International's Turkey chair Taner Kilic was finally freed today as Turkey looks to Europe for help with its financial woes.
A top Turkish human rights activist was freed today after spending over a year in prison, spurring cautious hope that Turkey’s financial woes sharpened by a row with the United States may force it to ease pressure on dissent so as to win back support from Europe.
Taner Kilic, the Turkish chair of Amnesty International, was arrested in June 2017 along with 22 lawyers over alleged links to Fethullah Gulen, the Islamic cleric accused of plotting to violently overthrow Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The case is among a slew of flimsily evidenced prosecutions of dissidents in the wake of the abortive July 2016 coup. Kilic’s trial was being closely monitored by the European Union.
Amnesty International said it was “overjoyed” by news of his release but demanded that charges against him and thousands of other prisoners of conscience be dropped.
On Aug. 14, Turkey unexpectedly freed two Greek soldiers who were arrested in March after they strayed accidentally into Turkey. “I hope that their release will herald a new day in Greek-Turkish relations,” declared Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos.
