Persona non grata: Erdogan want 10 ambassadors to leave the country

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that he had ordered the Foreign Ministry to designate 10 ambassadors of Western countries “persona non grata” for their call for the release of Turkish businessman Osman Kavala.

Kavala has been imprisoned since late 2017 on charges of financing protests in the country in 2013 and involvement in a failed coup in 2016.

In a joint statement issued on October 18, the ambassadors of Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, New Zealand and the United States called for a just and speedy solution to the Kavala case.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned the 10 ambassadors and described the statement as “irresponsible”.

“I issued the due order to our foreign minister and told him what to do, these 10 ambassadors must be declared persona non grata”, Erdogan said in a speech to a crowd in the northwestern Turkish province of Eskişehir. ?? Do it immediately”.

“They will know and understand Turkey”, he added, to cheers and cheers from the audience.

The day they do not know or understand Turkey, they will leave”.

The embassies of the United States, France and Germany, the White House and the State Department didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Kavala Square was acquitted last year of charges linked to nationwide protests in 2013, but the ruling was overturned this year and the charges were merged with those in another case linked to a 2016 coup attempt.

Rights groups describe Kavala’s trials as a symbol of a crackdown on dissent under Erdogan.

The next hearing in the case of Kavala, who has denied all charges and is on trial with others, will be held on November 26.