(Bloomberg) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused businessman Osman Kavala, who was sentenced to life in prison earlier this week, of organizing the 2013 anti-government Gezi Park protests as a local collaborator of the billionaire philanthropist George Soros.

“This man was Turkey’s Soros, and this man was the behind-the-scenes coordinator of the Gezi events, and our judiciary made its final decision on him,” Erdogan said late Wednesday. 

Kavala was on the board of the Turkish chapter of the Open Society Foundation funded by financier George Soros until the Turkish government shut it down in 2018. Soros has been attacked by nationalist politicians and commentators from the U.S. to Italy to his native Hungary over his support for liberal causes, with many of the barbs widely seen as anti-Semitic. 

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A criminal court in Istanbul convicted Kavala this week of conspiring to overthrow Erdogan in a failed 2016 coup, and allegedly financing and organizing the Gezi Park protests. 

Monday’s verdict was criticized by rights groups and Turkey’s western allies as an attempt to silence opponents under Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian rule. The U.S. said it was “deeply troubled and disappointed” by the court’s decision and reiterated calls for Kavala’s release in line with European Court of Human Rights rulings. 

“There is law in this country, there is a judiciary in this country, and this judiciary has made its decision,” Erdogan told representatives of some non-governmental organizations during a fast-breaking dinner in Istanbul. He urged the European Court of Human Rights to fall in line with Turkey’s verdict adding that “even if you don’t, the judiciary’s decision will be implemented.”

The court on Monday also sentenced seven other activists to as long as 18 years in prison on charges of conspiring to overthrow the government. They deny the charges. 

“The people of Turkey deserve to exercise their human rights and fundamental freedoms without fear of retribution,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement. “We urge the government to cease politically motivated prosecutions and to respect the rights and freedoms of all Turkish citizens.”

Relations with many of Turkey’s key allies came to the brink of collapse in October when Erdogan threatened envoys from 10 countries, including the U.S. and Germany, with expulsion after they demanded Kavala’s release. 

The court said it would also press on with the trial of U.S.-based Turkish scholar Henri Barkey and eight other fugitives, including activist Mehmet Ali Alabora and journalist Can Dundar, in a separate case. 

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