Ambassador of Serbia to Turkey Dusan Spasojevic was recalled due to the comments he had made for the Serbian media on the situation in the host country, Serbian Foreign Ministry stated, RIA Novosti reported.
According to the Statute of the Serbian foreign office, ambassadors without a special permit can not make comments for the Serbian media, except in cases of emergency. Ambassador Spasojevic recently gave interviews to two TV stations in Belgrade, describing the events in Turkey and the situation with Serbian citizens, as well as posted messages on this topic in Twitter.
In his comment to 'Blitz' newspaper Foreign Minister of Serbia Ivan Mrkich said that Spasojevic was recalled already two months ago, but for family reasons he asked to allow him to stay in Turkey until July 1, and his request was honored.
"Spasojevic was criticized because his unauthorized comments describing the situation in Turkey, while could only speak about our citizens. Due to this, Because of this the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Turkey) Ahmet Davutoglu called me and expressed his reasonable protest," Mrkich said.
Spasojevic, in turn, denied the words of his boss in Twitter. According to the ambassador, he "unfortunately, unlike other colleagues in Ankara did not express his position" on the events in Turkey, did not report on the riots, did not stay in the country longer than the set time and did not ask to extend his term for personal reasons. According to him, he only advised the Serbian citizens in Turkey to avoid crowded places.
Mass anti-government protests that began in Istanbul with a rally in defense of Gezi Park in the center of the city have been continuing for two weeks in Turkey. The protesters oppose the Islamization of Turkey and accuse authorities that it interferes with the personal life of ordinary citizens. Prime Minister Erdogan said that the protests are held by extremists. Over 3,000 people have been injured, several deaths have been reported.