Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday ordered his foreign minister to expel the ambassadors of ten countries, including Germany and the United States, that called for the release of imprisoned civil activist Osman Kavala.
In an unusual statement published on Monday evening, Canada, France, Finland, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the United States called for a "just and swift settlement of the case" of businessman Osman Kavala, who has become an enemy of the regime and has been imprisoned for four years.
The escalating dispute with Western countries, most of which are partners in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), concludes a week full of negative developments for Turkey after the Financial Action Task Force (GAFI) put it on its gray list due to deficiencies in combating money laundering and terrorist financing, and recording a new decline in the lira against the backdrop of fears of economic mismanagement and the risk of hyperinflation.
"I instructed our foreign minister to deal as soon as possible with declaring these 10 ambassadors persona non grata," Erdogan said during a visit to central Turkey, using a diplomatic term that represents a measure that precedes expulsion.
He stressed that these ambassadors should "know and understand Turkey," considering that they "lack decency."
They should leave (the country) if they no longer know it.”
Several European countries rushed to respond to the Turkish president's statements.