ISTANBUL: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said he had ordered the foreign ministry to declare 10 ambassadors — including from the United States, Germany and France — ‘persona non grata’ for calling for the release of philanthropist Osman Kavala.
“I gave the necessary order to our foreign minister and said what must be done: these 10 ambassadors must be declared persona non grata at once. You will sort it out immediately,” Erdogan said in a speech in northwest Turkey’s Eskisehir.
The Turkish President further said, “I told our foreign minister that we cannot have the luxury of hosting them in our country,” adding, “They will know and understand Turkey. The day they do not know and understand Turkey, they will leave.”
The 10 ambassadors issued a highly unusual joint statement on Monday — distributed widely on their Turkish social media accounts — saying Kavala’s continued detention “cast a shadow” over Turkey.
In their statement, the US, Germany, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden called for a “just and speedy resolution to (Kavala)’s case”.
The foreign ministry summoned the ambassadors on Tuesday for what it said was an “irresponsible” statement. Kavala’s has been in prison since late 2017, charged with financing protests and participating in a failed coup, which he denies.
The philanthropist has faced a string of alternating charges linked to 2013 anti-government protests and a failed military coup in 2016.
A declaration of persona non grata against a diplomat usually means that individual is banned from remaining in their host country.
