BAKU. TurkicWorld:
The mass closure of European consulates in Istanbul under the pretext of security concerns is intentional, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Friday, reports TurkicWorld with the reference to Daily Sabah.
“We think that these explanations and closures are on purpose,” Çavuşoğlu said during a joint news conference with his Argentinian counterpart Santiago Cafiero in Istanbul. Countries should notify Türkiye if there is a terrorist threat, Çavuşoğlu underlined, adding they are not sharing concrete information or documents with Ankara.
The United States and several European nations have advised citizens not to attend mass events and avoid tourist hot spots because of a "heightened terror threat." At least seven European countries have temporarily closed their Istanbul consulates to the general public as a precaution.
The U.S. Consulate remains open because it is far removed from the city center and less vulnerable to an attack.
The security warnings came during a spike in diplomatic tensions linked to Türkiye's spat with Sweden and Finland to join the U.S.-led NATO defense bloc. These have been exacerbated by protests at which an anti-Islamic extremist burned copies of the Quran outside Ankara's embassies in Stockholm and Copenhagen last month.
Turkish officials have voiced growing frustration with Western security alerts. Turkish police acted on the intelligence of one unnamed Western power and made several arrests earlier this week but found no weapons. Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu on Thursday condemned the Western closures as an attempt to meddle in Türkiye's May 14 presidential and parliamentary election campaign. He and other officials suggested that the Western powers had issued the security warnings to pressure Türkiye to tone down its criticism of the Quran protests and resolve the NATO dispute. "They are waging a psychological war against Türkiye. They are trying to destabilize Türkiye," Soylu said, adding that they came just as Türkiye had announced promising tourism figures.
The chief spokesperson for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's ruling party accused the West of making "irresponsible statements."
"Some embassies and consulates are making statements to raise concerns about our country's security conditions. Such irresponsible behavior is unacceptable," party spokesperson Ömer Çelik tweeted.
Çavuşoğlu said at the news conference that his ministry summoned the ambassadors of the countries that closed their consulates because they thought the closures were "deliberate." The ambassadors of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.K. were summoned to the Foreign Ministry, according to Turkish diplomatic sources, adding that such simultaneous acts do not show a proportional and prudent approach but instead only serve the "insidious agenda of terrorist groups."
"Why did they close their doors?" asked Çavuşoğlu. "They say there's a terrorist threat. Now if there's a terrorist threat, shouldn't they – especially if they are allies – tell us where this threat originated from?"
"They tell us, 'We have concrete information, there's a threat. That's why we're closing.' Who did it come from? Where? Who will do it? There's no information about that," he explained.
"They must share this information with us, that is, with our security units, with our intelligence units, and if there is such a threat, it must be eliminated before it turns into an attack." Those countries are not sharing "concrete" information and documents with Türkiye, he added.
"This does not suit friendship or alliance. If they are trying to get the country into a difficult situation before the general elections (expected this May), Türkiye knows very well what is behind it," he added. On Türkiye's determined fight against terrorist groups, including the PKK and Daesh, he said the Interior Ministry has stepped up security measures, especially for the missions of some countries, after recent burnings of the Quran.
"We're already taking measures. We're sensitive to these issues. Because our obligation is to protect these missions.
"But we also see some European countries that have nothing to do with this incident, and they are also closing (their consulates). In other words, we also know that some countries are telling others to join this closure action. We also have such information," he added.
Türkiye has issued the necessary warning, Çavuşoğlu said, adding: "After that, if they resort to such methods without sharing concrete information and documents, there will be additional steps we will take."
Minister Soylu adopted a harsher rhetoric on Friday and singled out the U.S. Ambassador in his criticism. Speaking at an event in the southern Turkish province of Antalya, Soylu said Türkiye has had high success in detecting foreign terrorists within its territories. "But Türkiye has the misfortune of having U.S. ambassadors seeking to plot coups in our country. Every U.S. ambassador has been engaged in efforts to harm Türkiye. They also try to dispel same advice to ambassadors of other countries," Soylu said.
He said they were also aware of "which journalists" the U.S. ambassador "directed" to pen articles (against Türkiye). "I openly tell them to get their dirty hands off Türkiye," Soylu said. The minister also lamented what he called the "hypocrisy" of countries of origin of foreign fighters of terrorist groups they captured.
"They are not ashamed to feign that the terrorists we captured are not their citizens. They even expel them from citizenships in order to not to take them back," Soylu added.
