Kuwaiti ambassador summoned by Turkish Foreign Ministry over his warnings

Sevil Erkuş ANKARA

Kuwaiti Ambassador Abdullah Abdulaziz al-Duwaikh (L) has been summoned by the Turkish Foreign Ministry. Kuwaiti Embassy Attaché Amad Ali Almohaid had allegedly attacked Lt. Col. Hakan Karakuş (R), an F-16 pilot working with NATO, during a quarrel in traffic.

The Foreign Ministry has summoned Kuwaiti Ambassador Abdullah Abdulaziz al-Duwaikh over his statement that his country’s investments in Turkey could be negatively affected if the embassy diplomat who allegedly attacked a Turkish pilot is deported before a court decision.

Undersecretary of Foreign Ministry Feridun Sinirlioğlu asked for an explanation from the diplomat on Sept. 18 about his remarks, which were published in media reports.

Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News on Sept 16., Ambassador al-Duwaikh said the Turkish court decision had to prove his diplomat is guilty of attacking a Turkish pilot for the embassy to decide to send the diplomat back to his county. He warned that deporting the diplomat without a court ruling would negatively affect his country’s investments in Turkey.

“We have a lot of investments here in Turkey. If anybody hears that this man is deported without a court decision, then they will become afraid and leave Turkey because they won’t trust Turkey after this incident. So it would affect everything,” the ambassador had said.

“We are searching for the reality. If I send him to Kuwait, the Parliament would ask, ‘Why did you send him back? What is the evidence?’ We want to know from the official court that he is guilty. Because when I send him to Kuwait, I will show my government, Parliament and media that he was found guilty by an official court. His family will be destroyed, I have to have a basis for that decision,” he noted.

Kuwaiti Embassy Attaché Amad Ali Almohaid allegedly attacked Lt. Col. Hakan Karakuş, an F-16 pilot working with NATO, during a quarrel in traffic.