Erdogan threatens to expel 10 ambassadors

ISTANBUL — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to expel the ambassadors from 10 countries, including the United States, declaring them “persona non grata” after they called for the release of a jailed philanthropist.

“I gave the instruction to our foreign minister and said, ‘You will immediately handle the persona non grata declaration of these 10 ambassadors,’” Erdogan said in a speech Saturday in Eskisehir in western Turkey.

The outburst seemed to indicate a return to frosty relations with the West, after a brief thaw that analysts have attributed to Erdogan’s concern for his country’s stumbling economy.

The envoys, including those from the seven European nations, Canada and New Zealand, as well as the United States, released a letter this past week urging the Turkish government to abide by a ruling of the European Court of Human Rights and release the philanthropist, Osman Kavala, who has been held since 2017 despite not having been convicted of a crime.

The Biden administration was the driving force behind the letter, in keeping with his policy of publicly calling out states over human rights violations.

A declaration of person non grata typically means the individual must leave the host country. However, the ambassadors were not immediately given a deadline for leaving, and it remained unclear whether they would actually be expelled.

In recent years, Erdogan has frequently been at odds with western nations, putatively his allies in NATO. Most prominently, he has feuded with Washington over its support for a Kurdish group in Syria that he considers a terrorist organization. He has also clashed with the United States over his rapprochement with Russia, a change that saw Turkey purchase a Russian advanced air-defense system.

But he had softened his stance toward the West lately in an effort to rescue Turkey’s failing economy. By threatening the expulsion of the diplomats, Erdogan appeared to be giving up on that gambit.