Washington: We are waiting for Ankara to explain the expulsion of the US ambassador.
The US State Department on Sunday asked Ankara to explain its decision to expel ambassadors from 10 countries, including the United States.
Earlier, European Parliament President David Sasuli reacted to Erdogan’s threat to expel the ambassadors of 10 countries from Ankara, writing in a Twitter message: “The expulsion of 10 ambassadors is a sign of the Turkish government’s arbitrary move. “We will not be intimidated.”
The Turkish president announced on Saturday that the ambassadors of 10 countries, including Germany and the United States, who had called for the release of Osman Kavala, would be declared an undesirable element.
Referring to the term used in diplomacy, which means the first step before expulsion, he said: “I have instructed our Foreign Minister to declare these 10 ambassadors as undesirable elements as soon as possible.”
The Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassadors of 10 countries last Monday evening for their joint statement calling for the release of Osman Kavala, a Turkish businessman imprisoned in the country.
Last Tuesday, the embassies of the United States, Canada, France, Finland, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden demanded the release of Kavala, who has been in prison for four years for his alleged role in the 2013 protests and subsequent demonstrations. Takes.
“I told the foreign ministers [of these countries] that I could not accept their hosting,” Erdogan told reporters on Thursday.
Turkish media reported on Sunday that the Turkish Foreign Ministry had tried to persuade Recep Tayyip Erdogan not to expel ambassadors from 10 foreign countries.
Referring to the issue, Turkish news agency ANKA reported that Erdogan issued an order on October 21 declaring ambassadors of a number of countries “undesirable elements”. Turkish Foreign Ministry officials then tried to dissuade Erdogan from taking this position, but their efforts failed.
