Neither Norway nor the other Nordic countries have heard from Turkey after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered that the ambassadors be expelled.
– We have not received any information from the Turkish authorities, says press officer Mathias Rongved in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to NTB, late Sunday afternoon.
Erdogan said on Saturday that he had ordered his foreign minister to declare ten ambassadors in Ankara, among them the Norwegian and the other Nordic, undesirable. The reason is that in a letter they have requested that the activist and philanthropist Osman Kavala be released.
On Sunday, Sweden, Denmark or Finland had not heard anything official from Turkey either.
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin regrets Erdogan’s order, and Denmark’s Foreign Minister Jesper Kofod says they have not heard anything, and that Denmark in any case “stands guard over our common values and principles”, as they are expressed in the letter.
– We consider it important that the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights are respected, and have therefore requested that he be released, Marin says about Erdogan’s order.
Acquitted and arrested
Kavala has been imprisoned without a sentence since 2017 for allegedly being involved in the protests in Gezi Park in Istanbul in 2013. He was acquitted last year, but arrested again immediately.
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Kavala has been portrayed as a symbol of Erdogan’s growing intolerance of critics. International observers and human rights activists have repeatedly called for Turkey to release Kavala and Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas. The latter has been imprisoned since 2016, and critics believe they are both imprisoned for political reasons.
Turkey denies this, insisting that the judiciary is independent.
Joint statement
I without statement Ambassadors point to a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights which has accused Turkey of violating the human rights convention by keeping Kavala imprisoned.
– We ask Turkey to ensure that he is released immediately, the statement from the ambassadors to the USA, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Canada and New Zealand states.
They further write that the case against Kavala “casts a shadow over respect for democracy, the rule of law and openness in the Turkish judiciary”.
– Indecent
Erdogan accuses the ambassadors of “obscenity”.
– They must know and understand Turkey. They must leave here the day they no longer know Turkey, the president said on Saturday.
“I have asked our Foreign Minister to declare these ten ambassadors for personae non gratae as soon as possible,” he told a rally in Eskisehir in western Turkey on Saturday.
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– We do not want to speculate in further reactions from the Turkish authorities. Our ambassador has not done anything that provides grounds for deportation, writes communications director Trude Måseide in an email to NTB on Saturday.
She assures that Norway will continue to urge Turkey to comply with its human rights obligations.
Economic crisis
Erdogan’s order comes at the end of a turbulent week for Turkey. On Thursday, the country was placed on the gray list of the global money laundering authority FATF for shortcomings in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
At the same time, the exchange rate has continued to fall for fear of economic mismanagement and due to the risk of hyperinflation, which has a strong impact on support for Erdogan.
According to several experts, the fact that Erdogan is threatening to throw out the ambassadors may be an attempt to divert attention from the economic crisis.
(©NTB)
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