The crisis of Western ambassadors in Turkey entered a new turn today, Monday, following a position announced by the US embassy in a tweet on Twitter, and other embassies interacted with it, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed him after he threatened to expel them.
And the US embassy stated - in a brief statement via Twitter - that the United States confirms its observance of Article 41 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, following questions raised about the statement issued on October 18.
pic.twitter.com/mySQMTUKnz
— US Embassy Turkey (@USEmbassyTurkey) October 25, 2021
This relates to a statement published in Ankara by the embassies of the United States, Germany, Denmark, Finland and France, as well as the Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, Norway and New Zealand, on the Kavala case, in which they said that the ongoing case against Kavala casts a shadow over democracy and the rule of law in Turkey, calling for his release.
The embassies said in the statement, "The continued delay in his trial, including the merging of different cases and the creation of others after a previous acquittal, casts doubt on the respect for democracy, the rule of law and transparency in the Turkish judicial system."
The statement sparked intense official anger in Turkey, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday ordered his foreign minister to declare the ambassadors of 10 countries "persona non grata", saying that they "lack tact", against the background of their call for the release of opposition businessman Osman Kavala.
Retreat?
The official Anadolu Agency said that the US embassy's statement today, Monday, represents a retreat from "its position on Osman Kavala, who is imprisoned on charges of involvement in the 2016 coup attempt, stressing its observance of Article 41 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which stipulates that diplomats respect the laws of the country they are accredited to."
She indicated that Canada, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and New Zealand - and later France and Germany - also signatories to the statement re-published the tweet of the US statement, some through the official accounts of their embassies in Ankara, and some through the personal accounts of the ambassadors.
Turkish President Erdogan was also quick to welcome the statement published by the US embassy, and most of the ten embassies interacted with it, stressing that it is committed to a diplomatic treaty that requires non-interference in the internal affairs of the host country.
Article 41 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations requires diplomats to respect the laws and regulations of the state they are accredited to, and not to interfere in the internal affairs of that state.
The rise of the lira
The French press agency reported that the Turkish president chose to stop the escalation today, Monday, after he threatened to expel 10 Western ambassadors who called for the release of Osman Kavala, after most of the concerned embassies confirmed, in statements, today, Monday, on Twitter, "respect for the Vienna Convention and Article 41 of it," which It establishes a framework for diplomatic relations, and prohibits any interference in the internal affairs of the host country.
She added that the signs of calm quickly led to a rise in the exchange rate of the lira, which had recorded a new decline this morning.
And last Monday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced the recall of the ambassadors of 10 countries, after it published a statement on social media, in which it said that the ongoing case against Kavala casts a shadow over democracy and the rule of law in Turkey, and called for his release.
Kavala has been imprisoned in Turkey for four years without a conviction, despite calls by the European Court of Human Rights for his release.
Kavala was acquitted last year 2020 of charges related to nationwide protests in 2013, but the ruling was overturned this year and the charges were merged with those in another case linked to the failed 2016 coup attempt, as Reuters reports.