Erdogan: Ambassadors from Norway and nine other countries will be declared unwanted in Turkey

Photo: Turkish Presidency Pool via AP

The ambassadors from Norway and nine other countries will be declared unwanted in Turkey after they criticized the imprisonment of activist Osman Kavala, according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“I have asked our Foreign Minister to declare these ten ambassadors unwanted (persona non grata) as soon as possible,” Erdogan stated.

The term persona non grata is used in diplomacy as the first step before deportation.

Erdogan has previously threatened to expel the ten ambassadors after they published a statement on Monday saying that the imprisonment of Kavala casts a shadow over Turkey. All ten were summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry on the next day.

Osman Kavala

The Paris-born philanthropist and activist, 64-year-old Osman Kavala, has been imprisoned without being sentenced since 2017. He has become a symbol of Erdogan’s growing intolerance of critics of all kinds.

In their statement, the United States, Germany, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden call for a speedy and fair end to the Kavala case.

Kavala is charged with several different offenses related to the demonstrations that were critical of the government in 2013 and a coup attempt in 2016.

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews

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