Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has created a diplomatic scandal by ordering the foreign ministry in Ankara to declare 10 ambassadors persona non grata, including the United States, Germany and France. The reason is their call for the release of Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.

On Monday, the embassies of ten countries circulated a statement on social media calling for Kavala's release, saying the ongoing trial against him and his arrest cast a shadow over democracy and the rule of law in Turkey.

The ambassadors of those countries - the United States, Germany, Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, Norway and New Zealand - were summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry for explanations on Tuesday.

Osman Kavala was initially arrested in connection with the protests over Gezi Park in 2013, but later the charges against him were expanded to include espionage and an attempt to overthrow the government during the 2016 coup attempt.

Kavala has been in prison for 4 years without a sentence, although his release was ordered by the European Court of Human Rights in December 2019.

Last month, the 47-member Council of Europe, of which Turkey is a member, said it would launch infringement proceedings against Ankara if Kavala is not released before the next meeting of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers in November.

/OFFNews

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