Because of a call for the release of an oppositionist
Osman Kavala has been in prison since 2017 without a sentence
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened on Thursday to expel the ambassadors of the United States, Germany and eight other Western countries after they condemned the continued detention of prominent public figure and opposition leader Osman Kavala, AFP reported.
The Paris-born Kavala has been in prison without a conviction since 2017, becoming a symbol of Erdogan’s growing intolerance of dissidents, the French news agency reported.
A series of various charges have been filed against Kavala in connection with the anti-government protests in 2013 and the failed military coup in 2016.
In a statement, the ambassadors of the United States, Germany, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden called for a “fair and speedy resolution of Kavala’s case.” According to them, Kavala’s continued detention “casts a shadow” on Turkey.
“I told the foreign minister that we cannot afford the luxury of our country hosting them,” Erdogan told reporters, quoted by Turkish media.
The ten ambassadors were summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Tuesday. Erdogan made angry comments in a conversation with reporters on board the plane on his return from a tour of Africa.
“Is it within their power to study Turkey?” Who are they? ”Erdogan told private TV NTV.
International observers recall that after a failed coup attempt against Erdogan’s government in 2016, Ankara entered into a series of diplomatic disputes, particularly with the United States, over the residence of Fethullah Gulen, who is believed to be the coup’s ideologue. Authorities continue to regularly announce arrests of officials in Turkey on the grounds that they were part of the plot.
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