ONE GOOD way to discourage political dissent(异见，异议) is to single out(挑出，选出) inoffensive(无害的，不惹人反感的) activists for cruel punishment. In 2013 Osman Kavala, a businessman who ran a charity supporting cultural heritage, took part in protests against a construction project in Istanbul’s Gezi Park.(2013年，经营一家文化遗产慈善机构的商人奥斯曼·卡瓦拉参与了反对伊斯坦布尔盖齐公园建设项目的抗议活动。) He was arrested four years later amid a widening crackdown(镇压，严厉打击), and sentenced in 2022 to life in prison without parole(终身监禁不得假释). On August 25th the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered Turkey to free him. Instead, the country might walk away from Europe’s human-rights system altogether.
要打压政治异见，一个有效的办法就是挑出那些与世无争的活动人士，施以残酷惩罚。2013年，经营一家文化遗产慈善机构的商人奥斯曼·卡瓦拉参与了反对伊斯坦布尔盖齐公园建设项目的抗议活动。四年后，在当局不断扩大的镇压行动中，他被捕，并于2022年被判处终身监禁、不得假释。8月25日，欧洲人权法院（ECHR）命令土耳其释放他。然而，土耳其却可能干脆退出欧洲人权体系。
As a party to(……的缔约方，参与方) the European Convention on Human Rights, Turkey is legally bound by the court’s judgments. But it has refused to implement(执行，实施) two earlier orders to free Mr Kavala. This time the court in Strasbourg went further, ruling that Turkey has a “systemic(系统性的，体制性的) problem of prosecution(起诉，检控) and imprisonment of human-rights defenders, political opponents and journalists”. The evidence that he had “attempted to overthrow the government” was wanting(不足的，缺乏的): prosecutors had noted his purchase of pastries and provision of a picnic table for protesters. In imprisoning him, the ECHR found, Turkish authorities were trying to stifle(扼杀，压制) pluralism(多元主义) and political debate.
作为《欧洲人权公约》的缔约国，土耳其在法律上受该法院判决的约束。但它此前已拒绝执行两次要求释放卡瓦拉的命令。这一次，斯特拉斯堡的法院更进一步，裁定土耳其存在“系统性地起诉和监禁人权捍卫者、政治对手和记者的问题”。所谓他“企图推翻政府”的证据根本站不住脚：检察官甚至把他购买糕点、为抗议者提供野餐桌都列为罪证。欧洲人权法院认定，土耳其当局监禁他，是为了扼杀多元主义和政治辩论。
When Turkey flout(公然无视，藐视)ed the court’s orders to free Mr Kavala in 2019 and 2022, Western governments criticised it. But the country’s crucial roles in NATO(北大西洋公约组织) and in holding back(阻止，遏制) migration into Europe have come to outweigh(超过，比……更重要) such concerns. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has become “too important for European countries to exert(施加（压力、影响）) pressure on him”, says Gonul Tol of the Middle East Institute(中东研究所), a think-tank in Washington. He is now using that freedom to launch a crackdown against gay-rights advocates. Since September 13th police have raid(突袭，查抄)ed the offices of LGBT groups and detain(拘留，扣押)ed more than a hundred protesters.
2019年和2022年，土耳其两次无视法院释放卡瓦拉的命令，西方政府曾对其提出批评。但土耳其在北约中的关键作用，以及在阻止移民涌入欧洲方面的角色，如今已压过了这些关切。华盛顿智库中东研究所的戈努尔·托尔说，埃尔多安总统已经变得“太重要了，欧洲国家无法对他施压”。他现在正利用这种自由，对同性恋权利倡导者发起镇压。自9月13日以来，警方突袭了LGBT团体的办公室，拘留了一百多名抗议者。