Dispute with Turkey: Ambassador scandal averted for the time being

The expulsion of ten ambassadors from Turkey has been averted for the time being. In the evening, after a cabinet meeting, Turkish President Erdogan said that he welcomed the ambassadors’ willingness to adhere to diplomatic customs.

The excitement was great. Until recently, it was unclear how Turkish President Erdogan would deal with the ambassadorial crisis, whether the foreign minister would implement his order to declare the ten ambassadors undesirable. Finally, after more than three hours of cabinet meeting, the president made a statement.

We assume that these ambassadors, who have expressed their commitment to Article 41 of the Vienna Convention, will be more cautious in the future; that they will respect the sovereignty of Turkey, its laws and the order of other countries and not interfere in internal affairs.

And with these words the crisis was averted. No more a word on the expulsion of the ambassadors who had campaigned for the release of the imprisoned patron Kavala. The US embassy in Ankara had posted a tweet: Article 41 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations should be adhered to, according to the US representation.

“We are definitely not interested in starting a crisis”

This article states that diplomats adhere to and respect the laws and regulations of the receiving country and do not interfere in internal affairs. This interference is forbidden, said Erdogan in the evening.

It is certainly not about starting a crisis, but about justice towards our country, as well as protecting the laws, honor, interests and sovereignty of Turkey. After all, the same ambassadors have distanced themselves from defaming our judiciary and our country in a new, recent statement.

At least that is how President Erdogan sees it. He interprets the neutral position of the US embassy on Article 41, which all nine other embassies have also adopted, as giving in. And so Erdogan made it clear again:

No one who does not respect the independence of our country and the sensitivities of our nation can and may not stay in this country. I would like to emphasize that.

Discharge would also have strained economic relations

The lira had dropped again at the start of the week. An actual expulsion of the ambassadors would also have strained economic relations. To Erdogan, it was seemingly an orchestrated attack on the economy.

What they failed to do with terrorism and attempted coups, they are now attempting with insidious attacks on our economy. We sometimes pay heavy sacrifices to avert these attacks.

The political easing in the ambassadorial crisis also led to an easing of the tension on the foreign exchange market and the recovery of the lira in the evening. It has lost almost a quarter of its value this year.