The US State Department commented today on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's statements regarding the expulsion of ten Western ambassadors, including the US representative.

Erdogan ordered the ambassadors to be expelled after they called for the release of Turkish businessman Osman Kavala. State Department spokesman Ned Price said the US seeks clarification from the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

In a joint statement issued on October 18, the ambassadors of Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, New Zealand, and the United States called for a just and speedy solution to Kavala's case and his "immediate release."

The Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned the ten ambassadors and described their statement as irresponsible.

In response, European Parliament President David Sassoli said in a statement on Twitter that "The expulsion of ten ambassadors is a sign of the authoritarian drift of the Turkish government. We will not be intimidated. Freedom for Osman Kavala."

The expulsion of ten ambassadors is a sign of the authoritarian drift of the Turkish government. We will not be intimidated.

Freedom for Osman Kavala.

— David Sassoli (@EP_President) October 23, 2021

Earlier, the European Council threatened Ankara with sanctions that could be approved during its next session, if the dissident was not released by the end of next month.

Turkish authorities have held Kavala without conviction since 2017. Last year, he was acquitted of charges related to the 2013 Gezi Park protests. The sentence got overturned yet new charges were brought up against him for his alleged involvement in the country's 2016 coup attempt.

This October, Kavala appeared for his third trial after four years in detention for plotting against the government, a trial that Amnesty International described as "farcical".