A number of Turkish diplomats in the UK have found their bank accounts blocked by order of a local court.
Seven Greek Cypriots who filed a property claim against Turkey asked the UK to implement a decision taken in the Greek Cypriot courts. Following which a local British court blocked a certain number of bank accounts, some of which belonged to diplomats from the Turkish Embassy.
The British Ambassador was summoned by Ankara last week after these events, in conjunction with a similar request by the Turkish embassy in London, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry Tanju Bilgic said.
Ankara told the British authorities that the act contravened the Vienna Convention and impeded the work of Turkey’s diplomatic and consular missions in Britain.
“It’s unacceptable. We have launched an official process to object. We expect the lifting of the court orders on these accounts,” Bilgic said.
He added that the decision could harm the “positive environment” of the ongoing Cyprus negotiations to reunify the island.
Hurriyet
