The United States embassy in Ankara says it is suspending, with immediate effect, all non-immigrant visa services at its diplomatic facilities in Turkey.

Turkey is not going to give U.S. any guarantees concerning any criminal proceedings or other legal process as it is not within the competence of the government of the republic, the embassy of Turkey said.

The background of this announcement is the visa crisis between two countries which occurred as a result of detention of employees of American Consulate General in Istanbul.

The U.S and Turkey declared that they resume processing non-immigrant visas on a limited basis. The embassy notes that employees of Consulate General were detained not because of their failure of exercising authority, but because serious charges were brought against them.

The embassy called the resumption of processing non-immigrant visas a positive development, but the American side’s statement on security of US diplomatic mission in Turkey is strange and untrue.

On 8 October, the United States embassy in Ankara says it is suspending, with immediate effect, all non-immigrant visa services at its diplomatic facilities in Turkey.

The Embassy of Turkey responded the same way. The US embassy stated that it is deeply concerned with the arrest of Metin Topuz, the employee of Consulate General, and finds the accusations brought towards him unsound and disruptive for U.S-Turkey partnership.