Turkey’s Erdogan threatens to expel 10 Western ambassadors, including US ambassador

“These 10 ambassadors should be declared persona non grte at once,” Mr. Erdogan told a rally in the western Turkish city of Eskiehir on Saturday. “I gave the necessary orders to my foreign minister and said what should be done.”

“These people will come to understand Turkey,” he said.

If taken, the move would mark a sharp deterioration in relations between Turkey and the West, where many countries are Ankara’s allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Relations have deteriorated in recent years against the backdrop of Mr. Erdogan’s reconciliation with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s purchase of Russian anti-aircraft systems.

Osman Kavala, a philanthropist who has contributed to several Turkish civil society groups, has been in custody since 2017, when he was accused of funding widespread anti-government protests in 2013. He was acquitted of those charges last year and released, but was then taken into custody hours later. Taken back into custody on charges of having links to the failed 2016 coup. The allegations have been described by human rights groups as politically motivated.

Last week, ambassadors from the US, Canada, New Zealand and several European countries signed a joint statement marking the fourth anniversary of Mr Kavala’s detention, calling on Ankara to release the philanthropist, according to the European Court of Human Rights in December 2019. in line with the decision of who ruled on his side and called on Turkey to free him.

“[Delays and other irregularities] Casts a shadow on the respect for democracy, rule of law and transparency in the Turkish judiciary system.”

Tough relations between Ankara and Washington have not improved under the Biden administration. Turkish leaders were furious last month when President Biden did not meet with them on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. In what was widely seen as a move against the White House, Mr. Erdogan met with Mr. Putin on the Russian Black Sea coast shortly after.

Much of Mr Erdogan’s anger toward Washington stems from US support for Kurdish forces that still control Syria’s northeastern part. Some of those Kurdish fighters have been accused of having links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which Ankara and the US consider a terrorist organization. Ankara is also seeking a refund for being excluded from NATO’s F-35 jet fighter consortium, a move triggered by Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems.

Mr. Erdogan says Turkey can partner with whomever it wants while working to raise the country’s stature in the Middle East.

The US embassy in Ankara was not immediately available for comment and did not post a statement regarding Mr. Erdogan’s speech. Similarly, it could not be determined whether the governments of the countries involved had received specific information about the possible expulsion of their ambassadors.

Mr. Kavala’s next hearing is scheduled for November 26, but he says he no longer intends to attend the hearing.

“Since an equitable trial is not possible, I believe that my presence at the hearing from now on and defending me will be in vain,” he said in a statement on Friday.

Mr Kavala said in an opinion piece in the New York Times in 2019 that Mr Erdogan had chosen him because of his outspoken support for the 2013 Gezi protests, which were named after central Istanbul Park, as well as his role in For also. As a board member of the Open Society Foundation in Turkey. Mr. Erdogan has repeatedly hit out at business magnate George Soros, who founded the Open Society grant-making network.

This story has been published without modification to the text from a wire agency feed