Turkey: ten ambassadors, including that of France, declared as “persona non grata”

Published on : 10/23/2021 – 18:06

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday (October 23) that ambassadors from ten countries including France, Germany and the United States who have called for the release of opponent Osman Kavala will be declared as “persona non grata”.

“I ordered our Minister of Foreign Affairs to settle as quickly as possible the declaration of these 10 ambassadors as personae non gratae”, affirmed the head of state during a trip to central Turkey, without however give a specific date.

These ambassadors “must know and understand Turkey,” said Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accusing them of “indecency”. “They will have to leave ‘the country’ if they no longer know it,” he added.

An opponent detained without conviction since the end of 2017

In a statement released Monday evening, Canada, France, Finland, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the United States called for a “just settlement. and rapid of the affair “Osman Kavala, Turkish businessman and patron who has become a pet peeve of the regime, imprisoned for four years without trial.

The Turkish head of state threatened Thursday to expel these ambassadors, without however taking concrete measures in this direction. He said that same day that the ambassadors demanding the release of the businessman would not ask that of “bandits, assassins and terrorists” in their own country.

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Turkey had summoned the ambassadors of these ten countries on Tuesday, deeming “unacceptable” their call for the release of Osman Kavala.

In a written statement, Osman Kavala ruled on Friday that it would make “no sense” for him to attend his future trial due to the impossibility of obtaining due process following recent statements by Recep Tayyip Erdogan .

New hearing in November

This 64-year-old opponent, a major figure in civil society, has been accused since 2013 by President Erdogan’s regime of seeking to destabilize Turkey. He is particularly in the crosshairs for supporting anti-government protests known as the Gezi movement in 2013.

Then he was accused of having sought to “overthrow the government” during the attempted coup of 2016. In 2019, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the detention of businessman was not based on any evidence and had a political character. She called for his immediate release, a decision which Turkey ignored.

Osman Kavala will remain in prison at least until November 26, the date of the next judicial hearing concerning him, a court in Istanbul decided in early October, despite European threats of sanctions against Ankara.

The Council of Europe recently threatened Turkey with sanctions, which could be adopted at its next session (November 30 to December 2) if the opponent is not released by then.

With AFP and Reuters