U.S. Ambassador to Turkey John Bass commented on the visa row between Ankara and Washington on Wednesday.
“The Turkish government’s decision regarding our consular staff who were Turkish citizens was the last stage of our tense relationship. We do not want to break the long-standing relationship between the two countries. The two sides are not communicating as they should be. Unfortunately, the U.S. government still has not received any official communication from the Turkish government about the reasons why our local employees have been detained or arrested,” Bass said when asked about the detainment of a consulate employee.
“Terrorism is a very serious accusation. We want to know what evidence supports these claims. I assure you that the U.S. government would contact the Turkish government if there was an accusation of terrorism regarding its employees. We expect the same from the Turkish government. We still do not have information regarding our arrested staff. Our arrested workers were in close contact with the Turkish government. We took the visa decision to prevent risking our other employees. We hope this issue will be resolved very soon. We intend to communicate with the Turkish government,” he added.
The U.S. says two locally employed consulate staff have been arrested in Turkey this year. The second arrest at the Istanbul consulate last week led to the U.S. announcing on Sunday it had halted issuing non-immigrant visas in Turkey, a move reciprocated within hours by Ankara.
“Let me correct a misunderstanding about the visa decision; this is the decision of the U.S. government. The U.S. foreign ministry spokesman also expressed this. Every government has the right to set diplomatic missions. We respect the decision of the Turkish government regarding its envoys,” Bass said.
“We expect our local employees who are Turkish citizens to comply with Turkish laws. We do not hide any of our employees from judicial authorities. We have no suspects to hide in any of our missions. It's hard to comment on the charges against Topuz or other employees. Because the Turkish government did not provide us with any evidence in this regard. Topuz was responsible for working closely with the Turkish judicial authorities. Especially in the fight against smuggling and drug trafficking. Success was achieved as a result of this cooperation. If there is evidence proving that Topuz conducted meetings outside of his position, then we would like to see,” he continued.
The dispute has plunged already fragile relations between the two NATO allies to a new low after months of tension linked to the conflict in Syria, last year's failed coup in Turkey, and U.S. court cases against Turkish officials.
