(Istanbul) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Saturday that he had ordered the expulsion of ten ambassadors, including the Canadian envoy, for calling for the release of philanthropist Osman Guard.
Ten diplomats must be declared an individual in Turkey.
In addition to the Canadian ambassador, others are from the United States, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and New Zealand.
All of these diplomats released a joint statement earlier this week, urging businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala to resolve the case, which has been pending since 2017 without being convicted of any crime.
President Erdogan called this joint expulsion of foreign delegates “nonsense.”
“I have instructed this foreign minister: ‘You must immediately take responsibility for the non-personal statements about these ten ambassadors,” he said at a party rally in Eskisehir.
He continued, “They will recognize, understand and know Turkey. The day they do not know or understand Turkey, they will leave.”
All the targeted diplomats were summoned to the Foreign Ministry offices on Tuesday.
Usually, a diplomat is notified The person is non-grata Has been banned from the country allotted to him.
The controversial statement is still available on the Canadian embassy in Turkey. A publication released online last Monday called for Mr Kavala’s “emergency release.”
“The series of delays in his case, especially by combining different cases and creating new cases after the previous release, cast a shadow over democracy, the rule of law and the transparency of the Turkish judicial system,” condemns the ten diplomats.
Mr Kawala, 64, was acquitted last year of charges related to protests against the Erdogan regime across the country in 2013. The verdict was overturned, however, and new charges were added to the 2016 conspiracy attempt.
International observers and human rights groups have repeatedly called for the release of businessman and Kurdish politician Selahatin Demirtas.
The latter has been incarcerated since 2016. All of these people are accused of detaining these two for political reasons, which the government denies by protecting the independence of its courts.
The European Court of Human Rights has called for the release of Mr Kavala in 2019. The European Union (EU) has said in a statement that it will impose sanctions on Turkey if the philanthropist is not released by the end of November.
Global Affairs Canada has not yet responded to Sunday evening news.
With the Canadian Press
