Turks seeking US visas left reeling by row

ANKARA: Turkish students, business executives and travel operators have been left reeling by the country’s dispute with the United States that has led both to suspend visas.

Last year, 313,654 Turks went to the US while 459,493 Americans came to Turkey, according to figures provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute.

But the decision to charge a US consulate staffer with links to the American-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, accused of launching last year’s failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has thrown ties into turmoil.

In response, the US Embassy in Ankara said it would suspend nonimmigrant visas including those for tourism and work. Turkey then halted all visa services at its US missions for American citizens.

“Students and their families are panicking,” said Zeynep Sen, a foreign education programme coordinator based in Istanbul, who helps students go abroad.

One of those affected is Ergun Coskun, a 22-year-old student training to be an English teacher, who planned to go to the United States to develop his English language skills.

“All my plans are dead in the water. We’re still waiting, there is no end result,” Coskun said.

Every year around 26,000 Turkish students go to the United States for educational reasons, according to Deniz Akar, Managing Director of International Education Fairs of Turkey.

Some 10,000 go for Englishlanguage training, 10,000 for Bachelors and Masters degrees while 6,000 visit the US for the “Work and Travel” programme. The scheme allows university students to live and work in the US during their summer holidays.