The US has called on Ankara to immediately release Osman Kavala, the philanthropist and human rights activist whom populist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has referred to as the “red Soros of Turkey”.

Kavala—who has been detained for more than three years without conviction—was a founding member of the Turkey branch of the Open Society Foundation of George Soros, the Hungarian-born American billionaire investor and philanthropist who is a bete-noire of populist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and many illiberal voices around the world. The call from the US for the freeing of Kavala is another early sign that it won’t be easy for new US President Joe Biden to strike up a workable relationship with Erdogan, a leader he has referred to as an “autocrat”.

“The specious charges against Kavala, his ongoing detention, and the continuing delays in the conclusion of his trial, including through the merger of cases against him, undermine respect for the rule of law and democracy,” the US State Department said on February 10.

Immediately rearrested

Kavala was acquitted a year ago of charges related to 2013 anti-government protests. However, he was immediately rearrested on charges relating to the failed July 2016 coup against the Erdogan administration. An appeals court then overturned his acquittal on the protest charges.

On February 6, a Turkish court ruled to combine the two outstanding cases against Kavala, rejecting his request to be released.

Responding to the US call for the release of Kavala, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said Washington should respect legal proceedings in the courts.

“Turkey is a state of law. No country or person can give orders to Turkish courts about legal proceedings,” its spokesman Hami Aksoy said. He added that issuing demands on Turkish courts while refusing to extradite US-based, self-exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara claims orchestrated the failed coup (Gulen strenuously denies it), was “inconsistent and unprincipled”.

Kavala has been accused by Turkey of collaborating with Henri Barkey, a prominent US-based Turkey scholar. Both men have been charged with attempting to overthrow the constitutional order and Barkey is being tried in absentia.

An indictment alleged that Barkey had connections to Gulen’s network. Gulen denies involvement and Barkey has said the charges are a “complete fabrication”.

“We also note with concern U.S. citizen Dr. Henri Barkey’s inclusion in these unwarranted court proceedings. We believe the charges against Dr. Barkey to be baseless”, the US State Department added, urging Turkey to abide by a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling in late 2019 that Kavala be released.