Turkey, US in tit-for-tat halt of visa service

ankara — Turkey on Monday urged the US to reverse a decision to halt the issuing of all regular visas at American consulates in the country, in a row that risks a major crisis.

Ankara hit back at the US move — sparked by the arrest of an Istanbul consulate staffer — with a similar halt by Turkey’s missions in the US. The Turkish foreign ministry summoned the US embassy’s deputy chief of mission on Monday, urging Washington to reverse its decision on visa services. —

ankara — The Turkish foreign ministry summoned the US embassy’s deputy chief of mission on Monday, urging Washington to reverse its decision to suspend all non-immigrant visa services in an escalating row, state media reported.

Philip Kosnett was told Turkey expected the reversal of the move announced on Sunday to stop visa services at all US missions in Turkey, state-run news agency Anadolu said. Ministry officials told Kosnett the move was creating “unnecessary escalation and victimisation”, Anadolu reported.

Ankara had responded almost immediately in a tit-for-tat move by suspending all visa services for Americans in the United States.

The us move was creating unnecessary escalation and victimisation Turkish officials

Relations between the two Nato members were already tense over US support for a Syrian Kurdish militia Ankara deems to be a terror group and the failure to extradite US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused of ordering the 2016 failed coup. But ties deteriorated further after the US embassy in Ankara said on Sunday it would suspend issuing visas for tourism, medical treatment, business, temporary work or study, after a US consulate staffer was arrested. —