Recep Tayyip Erdogan calme le jeu. Le président turc a renoncé à expulser les dix diplomates menacés en raison de leur soutien au philanthrope emprisonné Osman Kavala. Les ambassadeurs occidentaux en Turquie ont « reculé » et « seront plus prudents à l’avenir », a-t-il déclaré, lundi 25 octobre. « Notre intention n’était pas de susciter une crise », mais de protéger les droits souverains de la Turquie, a affirmé M. Erdogan.
In a statement issued on Monday, Canada, France, Finland, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the United States had called for a “fair and expeditious resolution of the case.” This appeal followed a decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which ordered the release of the patron, which Ankara refuses to do.
“Turkish justice does not receive orders from anyone
The statement was an “attack” and an “insult” against Turkish justice, Erdogan said in an address after the meeting of his government. “It was my duty as head of state to provide the necessary response,” the Turkish president added, saying that “Turkish justice does not take orders from anyone.
“Their new statement shows that they have stepped back,” said Erdogan, after the ten countries concerned said in statements that they were acting in “accordance with the Vienna Convention and its Article 41” which governs diplomatic relations and prohibits any interference in the internal affairs of a host country.
Mr. Erdogan announced on Saturday that he had ordered the expulsion of the ten diplomats “as soon as possible”, but this announcement was not followed by an official notification to the states concerned. Sending back the ambassadors risked opening the door to an unprecedented diplomatic crisis, coupled with a currency crisis.
The turkish currency has been steadily devaluing (currently 9.73 pounds to the dollar, compared to 1.86 in 2011), while inflation has reached 19.5 per cent. Many households can no longer make ends meet. Finally, GDP per capita has fallen to $8,610 (7,380 euros) per person in 2020, compared to $12,489 in 2013. Hence the steady decline in the popularity of the president and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the polls.
Perhaps this is the source of President Erdogan’s latest outburst: the opposition suspects him of trying to distract from the internal economic crisis and his growing unpopularity, which the polls confirm, by playing on his antagonism with the United States and the EU. This would be a very short-sighted calculation. Mr. Erdogan can no longer afford the luxury of multiplying crises.
