Roundup: Turkey-West diplomatic row cools down

ANKARA, Oct. 25– Turkey and a group of Western countries are trying to avert a diplomatic crisis after Western embassies in Ankara called for the release of an imprisoned businessman. Embassies of ten countries– the United States, Germany, France, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, Norway and New Zealand– announced on Monday that they will abide by…

by Burak Akinci

ANKARA, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) — Turkey and a group of Western countries are trying to avert a diplomatic crisis after Western embassies in Ankara called for the release of an imprisoned businessman.

Embassies of ten countries — the United States, Germany, France, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, Norway and New Zealand — announced on Monday that they will abide by Article 41 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which asks foreign envoys not to interfere in the internal affairs of their receiving states.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomes the announcement of the embassies, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency, days after he said he wants the ambassadors of the countries banished from Turkey.

In a joint statement last week, ambassadors of the Western countries urged the release of Osman Kavala, a Turkish businessman and activist who was detained by the country’s authorities in 2017.

“Parties have shown that they don’t want an escalation in this affair. The message from embassies means that they will refrain from meddling in Turkey’s internal affairs in the future,” former Turkish ambassador Oguz Celikkol said on private broadcaster NTV.

Kavala, 64, was acquitted last year of charges linked to Turkey’s nationwide anti-government protests in 2013, but the ruling was overturned and joined to charges relating to a 2016 coup attempt. The detention of Kavala has drawn criticism from the West.

“If Turkey had gone forward with these expulsions, this would cause a very serious escalation between Turkey and its mostly NATO allies, and also create a rift with the West in general,” Selcuk Colakoglu, professor of international relations and director of Turkish Center for Asia-Pacific Studies, told Xinhua.

“If so, Turkey’s relations with those ten countries will enter a period of uncertain future,” Colakoglu added.

The ten countries are among Turkey’s biggest trading partners and foreign investors. Enditem