The Council of Europe is taking action on Osman Kavala, adding to the tensions in Turkey

Europe’s largest human rights organization has condemned Turkey for refusing to release a imprisoned businessman and philanthropist, which also reflects the country’s ties with the West.

The election goes through a difficult week for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ousted by a resignation of his finance minister against the financial crisis that has caused the lira to lose 40 percent of its value compared to the dollar in the last three months.

The Council of Europe voted unanimously to expose the “offenses” against Ankara at the protest. the arrest of Osman Kavala, who remained in custody even after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered his release.

Violations of the law – which could take up to 18 months, according to ambassadors – could force Turkey to suspend its voting rights to the Council of Europe, which oversees the ECHR.

It could lead to the country being ousted from the Strasbourg-old organization that has existed since 1950, and canceling the crucial alliance between Turkey and Europe at a time when its EU ambition has faded.

Kavala, who has spent four years in prison without charge, was among a recent line between Erdogan and 10 Western countries signed a memorandum of understanding for release. Turkey has accused the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) of discriminating against members of the ECHR.

The idea came after Erdogan met with a noisy week at home, as the population continued to grow due to rising commodity prices and growing lawsuits his government was disrupting inflation.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of Turkey’s main opposition party, added pressure on the government on Friday to visit the statistics agency as new official data said inflation rose 21 percent in November.

The most recent figure was more than 20.7 percent of respondents. But Kilicdaroglu, who stood outside the closed gates of TurkStat after officials refused to give him a meeting, criticized the agency for falsifying data. “TurkStat has ceased to be a government agency and has become a regulatory body [presidential] the palace, ”he said.

The Lira has faced a major crisis since the 2018 financial crisis after the central bank, acting under the leadership of Erdogan, began. reducing interest rates in September despite the rise in inflation.

The Turkish president has long believed, in contrast to the established economic climate, that rising interest rates have driven inflation rather than helping to lower prices.

He insists that further reductions in prices will follow, flying amid warnings that, in a country that relies heavily on export and manufacturing power, a weakening ring could lead to lower inflation and rising prices.

Erdogan’s preparation for lower prices sparked controversy with his finance minister, Lutfi Elvan, who was the last word on economic affairs in his cabinet. On Thursday, the Turkish president agreed to resign from Elvan and was replaced by a loyal man who praised his financial policies.

Shortly after Elvan’s departure, the central bank announced it would return to its counterfeit policy of using its foreign currency to support the lira, which fell by 14 dollars this week.

The central bank spent about $ 1bn on the initial intervention, according to Goldman Sachs. On Friday, it announced it would resell its second foreign currency in three days.

Fitch’s statistical agency has reduced its focus on Turkey from “stable” to “bad” and warned that the central bank’s ongoing intervention “does not address the root causes of inflation”. It added that the plan “puts the risk of further weakening of the world’s largest bank”.