The President of Turkey has requested that the ambassadors from Norway and nine other countries be declared undesirable in the country. The ten have demanded the release of activist Osman Kavala.
“I have asked our Foreign Minister to declare these ten ambassadors persona non grata as soon as possible,” said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday.
The term is used in diplomacy about the first step before deportation. Erdogan did not set a specific date, and it is unclear whether the president’s order will lead to the expulsion of the ambassadors, most of whom belong to NATO allies.
The Norwegian embassy in Ankara has not received information from the Turkish authorities about this now, states communications director Trude Måseide at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an email to NTB.
– We do not want to speculate in further reactions from the Turkish authorities. Our ambassador has not done anything that provides grounds for deportation, she writes.
Called in on the carpet
Erdogan threatened earlier this week to oust the ten ambassadors who on October 18 published a highly unusual joint statement.
There they criticize the treatment of the Paris-born philanthropist, businessman and activist Osman Kavala (64). He has been imprisoned without a sentence since October 2017.
Norway’s ambassador Erling Skjønsberg and the ambassadors from the USA, Germany, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Sweden were summoned the next day on the carpet to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
– They must know and understand Turkey, Erdogan said at a public meeting in Eskisehir in western Turkey on Saturday.
He accuses the ambassadors of “obscenity”.
– They must leave here on the day they no longer know Turkey, the president continues.
Imprisoned for four years
Kavala has been portrayed as a symbol of Erdogan’s growing intolerance of critics. International observers and human rights activists have repeatedly called for Turkey to release Kavala and Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas. The latter has been imprisoned since 2016, and critics believe they are both imprisoned for political reasons.
Turkey denies this, insisting that the judiciary is independent.
Kavala was imprisoned in 2017 for his alleged role in the demonstrations and uprising in Gezi Park in Istanbul four years earlier. Since then, Kavala has been the subject of a number of accusations, which he denies.
EMD decision
In their statement, the ambassadors of the ten countries call for a speedy and fair end to the Kavala case. They refer to a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights which has accused Turkey of violating the human rights convention by keeping Kavala imprisoned.
“We ask Turkey to ensure that he is released immediately,” the statement said, which was published on the website of the Norwegian embassy in Ankara.
The case against Kavala “casts a shadow over respect for democracy, the rule of law and the openness of the Turkish judiciary”, it is further claimed.
Turkey responded by asking Norway and the other countries to stay away from the country’s internal affairs.
Turbulent uke
Erdogan’s startling statements come at the end of a turbulent week for Turkey. On Thursday, the country was placed on the gray list of the global money laundering authority FATF for shortcomings in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
At the same time, the exchange rate has continued to fall for fear of economic mismanagement and due to the risk of hyperinflation.
When Erdogan first threatened to evict ambassadors on Thursday, the lira fell to its lowest level against the dollar. The annual inflation rate has reached almost 20 per cent, four times as high as the government’s target.
Acquitted and arrested
The demonstrations against the plans to build a shopping center in Geziparken in 2013 gradually developed into a larger protest movement.
The prosecution in the trial claimed that the protesters wanted to overthrow the Turkish government, which the defendants rejected.
Kavala was acquitted last year of the charges of participating in the demonstrations, but was remanded in custody immediately afterwards.
He was charged again with espionage and involvement in the coup attempt in 2016. Thus, he has been imprisoned for four years, without being convicted.
Risks life imprisonment
Kavala denies the charges in the indictment against him, which could lead to life imprisonment.
“The real reason I’m still in jail is the government’s need to keep alive the fiction that the Gezi protests were the result of a foreign conspiracy,” Kavala told AFP earlier in October.
– Since I am accused of being part of this conspiracy which is allegedly organized by foreign powers, the release of me will weaken the current performance, and the government will not like that, Kavala believes.
The next court hearing in his case will take place on November 26.
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