The Dutch ambassador and nine others do not have to leave Turkey, although they have called for the release of an activist. Turkish President Erdogan reneged on his announcement on Monday that the ten top Western diplomats would be declared undesirables.
In a speech, he welcomed the statements of the ambassadors today, in which they say they continue to abide by diplomatic treaties. In doing so, they emphasize not to interfere in domestic affairs. According to Erdogan, they took a step back from the slander against our country. They would have learned their lesson by now, he said: “They will be more careful from now on.”
The president thought it was indecent that the ten collectively called for the release of Osman Kavala a week ago, in a diplomatically unusual move. This philanthropist and human rights fighter has been incarcerated for four years without conviction. The ambassadors had already been summoned last week.
The latest diplomatic row between Turkey and the west seems to have come to an end. But in the Netherlands, members of the House of Representatives are not pleased with what, in their eyes, is the bow of the Dutch ambassador. “Erdogan is barking and 10 countries are pulling back with their tails between their legs,” writes Ruben Brekelmans (VVD) on Twitter. He calls it a painful display and a sign of weakness. Kati Piri (PvdA) thinks it is an embarrassing display and ‘the world is turned upside down’. She wonders whether the Netherlands should save Erdogan’s face, or whether the Netherlands should stand for Kavala’s freedom.
MPs Jasper van Dijk (SP) and Derk Jan Eppink (JA21) are also critical. Van Dijk calls it a remarkable turn of the ambassador and wants clarification about what happened ‘behind the scenes’. Eppink speaks of ‘sluggish politics’. According to him, the Netherlands is on its knees because ‘Erdogan is barking’. He thinks the ambassadors are ‘fearful’.
Persona non grata
Erdogan gave a speech on Saturday announcing that Turkey wants to expel ten ambassadors. “I have instructed our foreign minister to deal with the declaration of these ten ambassadors as persona non grata as soon as possible,” Erdogan said. These included ambassadors from the Netherlands, Germany, France and the United States.
Turkey’s announcement was met with dismay in the House of Representatives. ‘Dictator Erdogan once again shows his true face!’, says VVD member Ruben Brekelmans. Other MPs were also angry about the decision.
Jail
Businessman and philanthropist Kavala has been in prison since 2017. He is suspected of involvement in the failed coup in 2016. The charges came shortly after Kavala was acquitted of financing protests in Istanbul in 2013.
The European Court of Human Rights ordered the government of President Erdogan, which the activist Kavala is critical of, to release him in December 2019. The court in Strasbourg says he is being held in order to silence him.
Criminal proceedings
The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, which oversees the implementation of human rights court rulings, announced last month that it would open criminal proceedings against Turkey if Kavala is not released before its next meeting on November 30. The consequence of this could be that the country’s voting rights and membership could be suspended in the country organization that monitors democracy and human rights.
In addition to the Netherlands, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, New Zealand, the United States, France and Germany also signed the appeal to release Kavala. They call the “continuous delay” of his case, including by merging several cases and formulating new accusations, “a shadow over the respect for democracy, the law and the transparency within Turkey’s judicial system.”
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