Turkey suspends all visa services in US

Tit-for-tat moves expose growing diplomatic rift between NATO allies

ANKARA - Turkey has suspended all visa services at its diplomatic facilities in the United States, the Turkish embassy in Washington said on Sunday, shortly after a similar US move.

The tit-for-tat travel services suspensions between the two NATO partners exposed a deepening diplomatic rift inflamed by the arrest of a Turkish employee at the US consulate in Istanbul.

"Recent events have forced the government to reassess the commitment of the government of the US to the security of Turkish Mission facilities and personnel," the Turkish embassy said in a statement.

"In order to minimize the number of visitors to our diplomatic and consular missions in the US while this assessment proceeds, effective immediately we have suspended all visa services regarding the US citizens at our diplomatic and consular missions in the US," the statement said.

Ankara's retaliatory response, which very much resembles the US statement in wording, came hours after the US embassy in Ankara announced that it had suspended "all nonimmigrant visa services at all US diplomatic facilities in Turkey".

Nonimmigrant visas are issued for individuals traveling to the US for a temporary purpose such as visiting, studying and doing business.

However, the Turkish suspension went further, as it added in its statement that the measure would apply to sticker visas, as well as e-visas and border visas.

The row between the two NATO allies was sparked by the arrest of Metin Topuz, a local US Consulate employee in Istanbul, who was taken into custody on Wednesday over espionage charges and alleged links with the group of US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen.

The movement led by Gulen, referred to as the Fethullah Terrorist Organization by Turkey, was accused by Ankara of plotting a failed coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in July last year that killed some 250 people.

The US embassy in Turkey slammed the arrest of Topuz on Thursday, and criticized the treatment of its employee, saying that the allegations on Topuz "are wholly without merit".

The US government was "deeply disturbed" by the arrest and "by leaks from Turkish government sources seemingly aimed at trying the employee in the media rather than a court of law", the embassy said in a statement.

The embassy stressed that "baseless, anonymous allegations against our employees undermine and devalue (the) long-standing partnership "between the two countries.

In a statement released on Thursday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the name of the suspect is not among the official list of staff of the US Consulate General in Istanbul, and he does not have diplomatic immunity.

Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency reported Topuz had connections with former police chiefs and a fugitive prosecutor Zekeriya Oz, who is believed to be a member of the Gulen movement.

Authorities have determined "intense phone conversations" of Topuz with key suspects of last year's coup attempt, Turkish Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said in a televised interview on Thursday.

"There is a judicial process ongoing. He will be questioned. The process is conducted within the framework of the evidence," Kalin said.

The relations between Turkey and its traditional ally the US have gone from uneasy to challenging after the coup attempt last year.

Turkey's demand for Gulen's extradition has fallen on deaf ears in Washington as the US has asked for more evidence.

Xinhua

(China Daily 10/10/2017 page11)