U.S., Turkey both suspend visa services following arrest of consulate employee

(Image credit: Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images)

published 9 October 2017

Shortly after the U.S. Embassy in Ankara announced Sunday it would no longer handle any non-immigrant visa applications in Turkey, the Turkish Embassy in Washington fired back, saying it was also suspending visa services.

The U.S. Embassy cited "recent events" that forced the U.S. government to reassess Turkey's "commitment" to the security of U.S. personnel in the country. Earlier this week, a Turkish national who worked at the U.S. consulate in Istanbul was arrested and accused of being involved in the July 2016 attempted coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Non-immigrant visas are issued to people traveling for tourism, business, medical treatment, study, and temporary work.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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