The woman who owned a house on Mugga Way that housed the Turkish Embassy was evicted from the address by police after the federal government secured a Supreme Court injunction, the Times reported on this day 51 years ago.
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The injunction restrained the owner, Mrs Sheila A. Newland, from "occupying or continuing to occupy or otherwise violating the premises" until a further hearing later in December.
Mrs Newland had moved into the embassy's reception lounge with her two dogs almost a fortnight earlier, changing the locks and removing the Turkish emblem, claiming the former Turkish ambassador, Mr B. V. Karatay, had broken the terms of a lease and owed rent.
During the sit-in, the embassy's officials continued to occupy the rest of the house and police patrolled the corridors. Reporters could not speak to Mrs Newland in the house on the instruction of the Department of External Affairs.
"I think everybody in Canberra who lets a house to a diplomat or embassy should know that they have no rights at all," Mrs Newland said after she left the house.
"I am sorry to leave the house but I have no complaint about the way I was treated during my stay. The police were wonderful to me and very helpful."
