John Bass
US Ambassador to Turkey John bass said that the resumption of the issuance of visas for Turkish citizens depend on the outcome of bilateral negotiations. This is stated on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Ankara.
“We hope that this will not last long, but we can’t tell you how long it will take to resolve this issue,” — said the diplomat. He noted that the duration of [the suspension] will be discussed by the governments of the USA and Turkey “in discussions about the reasons for the detention of local employees of the United States and the commitment of the Turkish government in relation to the protection of American facilities and personnel in Turkey”.
He added that the suspension of issuing visas to Turkish citizens does not mean a ban on their entry into the United States. The diplomatic mission would only suspend consideration of new applications for visas.
The Turkish authorities earlier detained in Istanbul employee of the U.S. Consulate, a citizen of Turkey Metin Topusa. He was accused of espionage. The investigation claims that the man’s been in touch with militants of the terrorist group “al-Qaeda” (banned in Russia), which was involved in the attack on the British Embassy and a synagogue in Turkey in 2003. In addition, Topusa suspected of having links with FETO, which is accused of organizing the coup in Turkey in July 2016.
In response to the detention Topusa Washington has stopped issuing visas to Turkish citizens. In Ankara this measure called unfair, noting that they have the right to open a criminal case on the citizen of the country in the state. Turkey has also suspended the issuance of visas for Americans.