İYİ Party leader criticizes ruling for Osman Kavala

İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener on April 27 criticized a court verdict that sentenced businessman Osman Kavala to life imprisonment without parole, saying the ruling disturbed the conscience of society.

"The Osman Kavala case is one of thousands of judicial tragedies that strike a dagger against the conscience of the community and the nation's existence," she said, speaking at her party's parliamentary group meeting.

Akşener suggested that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pursues "personal revenge" on the case of Gezi events.

Kavala had already been acquitted by the existing laws, and even the court had accepted this, she said, adding that the issue was not only the rights of the businessman anymore.

"Our issue today is the deprivation of the inalienable and unavoidable fundamental rights, freedoms, pursuit of a humane life and hopes and dreams of each and every member of our nation," Akşener stated.

Gezi protests "gave hope to the helpless" as they objected to the practices of the government, she said. In this respect, the Gezi was "not just a protest for the Turkish youth. At the same time, it was the rise of national consciousness," the İYİ Party leader stated.

Elaborating on the meeting of the six opposition parties on April 24 for discussions on their proposal for a "Strengthened Parliamentary system," Akşener said that the stance of these political parties in politics is different, their promises are different, their attitudes toward the agenda are different and even their discourses are different but that despite all the differences, they hold common views on Turkey.

"We have a consensus on the essentials of the Strengthened Parliamentary System," she said.