On 18 October 2017 Osman Kavala was detained at the Istanbul Atatürk Airport after his visit to Gaziantep for a joint project with Goethe Institute.[17] On 25 October 2017, the newspaper Daily Sabah, close to the Erdoğan government, accused him of being a "business tycoon with a shady background" and having contacts with the "Gülenist Terror Group" (FETÖ).[19]