Imprisoned Osman Kavala
Diplomatic crisis comes to a head: Erdogan declares the German ambassador to be an undesirable person
“We cannot have the luxury of welcoming you to our country”: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
© Burhan Ozbilici / DPA
President Erdogan declares diplomats from ten countries undesirable. Among them: the German ambassador. The background is their commitment to an imprisoned cultural sponsor.
Turkey has declared the ambassadors of Germany, the USA and several other states to be undesirable persons. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in Eskisehir on Saturday that he had instructed the Foreign Ministry to do so. “I gave the order to our foreign minister. I said, see to it that these ten ambassadors are declared” persona non grata “as soon as possible,” said Erdogan.
Erdogan had previously threatened the ambassadors indirectly with deportation because of a demand for the release of the cultural patron Osman Kavala. It was initially unclear whether Erdogan’s latest statements would now lead directly to the expulsion of diplomats from a total of ten countries.
Erdogan rages against ten ambassadors
“We cannot have the luxury of welcoming them to our country,” said Erdogan on Thursday, according to the state news agency Anadolu, with a view to the diplomats. “Are you entitled to teach Turkey such a lesson? Who are you?” Germany or the USA did not simply let “crooks, murderers and terrorists” go free.
The embassies of Germany and nine other countries in Ankara published an appeal on Monday in which they, with reference to judgments by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), demanded the release of Kavala, who was arrested in 2017. The Turkish Foreign Ministry then summoned the ambassadors concerned. Among the appointed diplomats were those from the USA, France and the Netherlands.
ECHR demanded Kavala’s release as early as 2019
The ECtHR had already requested Kavala’s release in 2019. Turkey has so far ignored the judgment, although as a member of the Council of Europe it is actually obliged to implement it. Kavala and more than 50 other defendants are accused of attempted coup in connection with the anti-government Gezi protests in Istanbul in 2013. Kavala is also accused of “political and military espionage” in connection with the attempted coup in 2016.