According to the President of Turkey, the ambassadors from Norway and nine other countries will be declared unwanted in the country after they criticized the imprisonment of the activist Osman Kavala (64). The Foreign Ministry says they have not been notified by the Turkish authorities.
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“I have asked our Foreign Minister to declare these ten ambassadors persona non grata as soon as possible,” said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday afternoon.
The term is used in diplomacy about the first step before deportation.
Norway’s ambassador to Turkey is Erling Skjønsberg. He has held the position since 2019.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs: «No information received»
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) is familiar with the situation as it appears in the press, writes department director for the MFA’s communications unit, Trude Måseide, in an e-mail to VG on Saturday afternoon.
– We are familiar with the reports in the Norwegian press, but our embassy in Ankara has not received information from the Turkish authorities about this now. We have repeatedly raised our concerns with the Turkish authorities regarding the human rights situation in Turkey, including this specific issue. Turkey is therefore well acquainted with our view, writes Måseide.
– We will continue to call on Turkey to comply with democratic and the rule of law standards that the country has committed itself to under the European Convention on Human Rights. We do not want to speculate on further reactions from the Turkish authorities. Our ambassador has not done anything that provides grounds for deportation, she adds.
Demanded release
It was Monday that Norway together with nine other countries came up with one statement where they asked for a fair and speedy decision in the case and a speedy release of Kavala.
The statement referred to a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights which has accused Turkey of violating the human rights convention by keeping Kavala imprisoned.
The next day, all of the ambassadors called in on the carpet by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, which said the statement was “irresponsible”.
“All diplomatic missions are committed to respecting our country’s sovereignty and independence, and to refraining from interfering in internal affairs,” a spokesman for the party told Turkish President Recep Erdogan following the ambassadors’ statement.
–Ambassadors from these countries may be expelled from Turkey:
- Norway
- Sweden
- Denmark
- USA
- Canada
- Germany
- France
- The Netherlands
- Finland
- New Zealand
Imprisoned after acquittal
The Paris-born philanthropist and activist Osman Kavala has been imprisoned without a sentence since 2017. He has become a symbol of Erdogan’s growing intolerance of critics of all kinds, writes NTB.
Kavala is charged with a number of different offenses related to government-critical demonstrations in 2013 and a coup attempt in 2016.
The demonstrations against the plans to build a shopping center in Gezi Park in Istanbul in 2013 gradually developed into a larger protest movement.
The prosecution in the trial claimed that the protesters wanted to overthrow the Turkish government, which the defendants rejected.
Kavala was acquitted last year of the charges of participating in the demonstrations, but was remanded in custody immediately after the acquittal.
Immediately after the acquittal, he was charged again with espionage and involvement in the coup attempt in 2016.
Kavala, who has now been imprisoned for four years, without being convicted, denies having anything to do with the protests and the coup attempt.
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