Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered his foreign minister on Saturday to expel the ambassadors of ten countries, including Germany and the United States, who had called for the release of a Turkish businessman, Osman Kavala.

"I have ordered our foreign minister to declare these 10 ambassadors as persona non grata as soon as possible," Erdogan said.

"They must leave here the day they no longer know Turkey," he stressed.

On Thursday, the Turkish president threatened to expel the US, Germany, and eight other Western ambassadors after they delivered a rare joint statement Monday, in support of Kavala, according to Turkish media.

In their statement, the US, Germany, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden, called  for a "just and speedy resolution to (Kavala)'s case"

The 47-member Council of Europe announced last month that it would initiate infringement proceedings against Turkey if Kavala was not released before its next committee of ministers meeting in November.