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Ankara suspends visa services in Washington in tit-for-tat response to US
The Turkish authorities said they are suspending all non-immigrant visa services provided by the Turkish mission facilities based in Washington as a countermeasure to a similar decision by the US announced just hours before.
"Recent events have forced the Turkish government to reassess the commitment of the government of the United States to the security of Turkish mission facilities and personnel," Turkey’s Washington embassy said in a statement Sunday, as cited by Reuters.
READ MORE: US suspends all non-immigrant visa services in Turkey after consulate employee’s arrest
The statement effectively mirrors the one by issued by Washington less than 24 hours previously. The US restricted its visa services in Turkey in response to the arrest of an employee of the US General Consulate in Istanbul, Metin Topuz, a Turkish citizen, earlier in the week.
Topuz was reportedly accused of being an accomplice of the exiled Turkish cleric, Fethullar Gulen, who is blamed by the government in Ankara for orchestrating a failed coup attempt last July.
