Following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's threat yesterday to expel ambassadors from ten countries, including Germany and the United States, who called for the release of imprisoned activist Osman Kavala, reactions have poured in. Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands, whose ambassadors signed the joint statement, indicated that they have not received any official notification from Turkey, according to AFP.
Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Trude Maasai told local media, "The ambassador has done nothing to justify expulsion," committing to continue pressuring Turkey regarding human rights and democracy. An American State Department spokesperson noted that the U.S. is aware of this information and seeks to learn more from the Turkish Foreign Ministry. Meanwhile, the German Foreign Ministry announced it is currently engaged in intensive consultations with the other nine nations involved.
It is noteworthy that Canada, France, Finland, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the United States, in a statement released Monday night, called for a "fair and swift resolution" to the case of businessman Osman Kavala, who has been imprisoned for four years. However, this stance did not sit well with President Erdoğan, who indicated yesterday that he would move to expel the ambassadors. He stated during a visit to central Turkey, "I have instructed our Foreign Minister to deal with the announcements of these ten ambassadors as quickly as possible and to consider them persona non grata," using a diplomatic term typically preceding expulsion. He insisted that these ambassadors should "know and understand Turkey," adding: "They must leave the country if they do not come to know it."
Kavala, 64, has been in prison since 2017 without being convicted and faces multiple charges related to the 2013 Gezi protests and the 2016 coup attempt. In light of Erdoğan's remarks, which raised concerns of renewed tensions with the West, the Turkish lira has continued its decline to a record low against the dollar. The currency has lost one-fifth of its value since the beginning of the year, and the annual inflation rate has reached nearly 20%, four times the government's target. The "Eurasia Group" considered that Erdoğan risks "dragging the Turkish economy into a president-made crisis."
