A full-blown diplomatic crisis was evaded on Monday between Turkey and its Western allies after foreign embassies said that they abide by diplomatic conventions on non-interference, averting a threatened expulsion of 10 ambassadors, Euractiv report.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened last Thursday to expel the ambassadors due to their highly unusual joint statement last Monday seeking the release of a jailed philanthropist and civil society leader Osman Kavala.
He convened his ministers on Monday afternoon to confirm the expulsions that would’ve triggered the deepest rift with the West in his 19 years in power, but, in the meantime, several embassies put out the brief new statement.
They actually re-tweeted the US Embassy post on Twitter saying that the United States maintains compliance with Article 41 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and also issued similar messages.
After the Cabinet meeting and in light of the new statement made by the embassies, Erdogan stressed that Ankara’s goal is never to create crises but to protect the rights, laws, honour and sovereignty of Turkey noted the embassies’ step back and pointed they’ll be more careful in their statements regarding Turkey’s sovereign rights.
The initiative to reduce tensions, according to a diplomatic source, was led by the US diplomatic mission and Turkish officials, including Erdogan’s adviser and spokesman Ibrahim Kalin and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Some observers said that the US statement, whose Turkish version said the embassy “confirms” compliance with the convention, could suggest that the embassies were pledging future compliance.
Former opposition parliamentarian Aykan Erdemir said on Twitter that the message English and Turkish versions represent strategic ambiguity that allows Erdogan’s spin doctors to claim that the West has surrendered- in the Turkish version- while giving the impression with the English version that the West has stood its ground.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said later on Monday that the statement’s goal was to underscore the US compliance with Article 41 as well as its commitment to promoting the rule of law and the respect for human rights globally.
Price also noted that Washington would pursue dialogue with Turkey as with any NATO ally, seeking cooperation on common priorities.
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