Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkey is planning to remove 10 western ambassadors from the country, including the U.S. representative, after the diplomats called for the release of a jailed Turkish dissident.
The ambassadors from France, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, New Zealand and Norway are set to be expelled from Turkey.
"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.
A declaration of persona non grata against a diplomat usually means that individual is banned from remaining in their host country.
Earlier this week, the ambassadors called for the release of Osman Kavala, a wealthy, anti-Erdogan activist who has been jailed since 2017 even though he hasn't been convicted of a crime.
Turkey, a longtime NATO member that has applied for EU membership, has seen tensions rise recently with many Western allies.
Ankara has been slapped with U.S. sanctions for buying high-tech military equipment from Russia while it has faced naval showdowns in Mediterranean with NATO allies France and Greece.
Meanwhile, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), established by the Group of Seven rich nations, downgraded Turkey to the so-called gray list on Thursday for falling short of measures to curb money laundering and terrorist financing.
With inflation almost at 20% amid high-unemployment, opinion polls showed support for Erdogan's ruling coalition falling below the opposition alliance for the first time in September, raising alarms for Erdogan ahead of presidential and parliament elections slated for 2023.
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