US seeks official explanation for arrest of staff in Turkey, says envoy

The United States is seeking an official explanation from Ankara for the detention of Turkey-based US mission staff which led Washington to suspend issuing visas in the country, ambassador John Bass said on Wednesday.

The US suspended most visa services for Turkish citizens after Turkish authorities arrested Turkish employee Metin Topuz who works at the American consulate in Istanbul on charges of espionage and alleged ties to US-based cleric Fetullah Gulen, blamed for last year's failed coup. 

Turkey retaliated by halting visas services in the US.

"Unfortunately ... the US government still has not received any official communications from the Turkish government about the reasons why our local employees have been detained or arrested," Bass said, who spoke to journalists in Ankara.

TRT World's Andrew Hopkins has more updates on the visa spat from Ankara.

The US says two locally employed consulate staff, including Topuz, have been arrested in Turkey this year. 

"Our employees being under suspicion of terrorism charges is a very serious allegation that we want to take seriously. We want to see what evidence there is that supports these allegations."

"If the US government thought Turkish people in the US are members of a terrorist organisation, we would bring that to the attention of the Turkish government and cooperate to address that particular challenge. We would hope that the Turkish government would approach a similar way.”

Topuz faces charges of espionage and attempts to "destroy" the constitutional order and Turkey's government. The prosecutor for the case said Topuz was in frequent contact with 121 people who are currently under investigation for having links to FETO. Some of the suspects he had contacted were responsible for delivering weapons to the former gendarme personnel. 

Halkbank executive treatment

Bass complained about the lack of cooperation with Turkey regarding Topuz's arrest.

He was then questioned by journalists whether the Turkish government had been cooperated of the arrest in the US of Mehmet Hakan Atilla, the deputy chief executive of one of Turkey's largest banks, prior to the actual arrest taking place.

“I don’t recall, we have to go back and check,” said Bass, who later couldn't provide any specific details for the issue.                

Former economy minister Zafer Caglayan and Halkbank executive Atilla were charged with conspiring to violate US sanctions on Iran. Atilla was arrested in March and indicted in September along with Caglayan, who is in Turkey.

Bass also denied allegations that had appeared in Turkish media reports that a second staff member being sought by Turkish prosecutors is hiding in the US consulate in Istanbul.

“All of our local employees are Turkish citizens. We expect them to follow Turkish law and interact with Turkish law enforcement. We are not preventing them from appearing before law enforcement authorities. No one is hiding in any of our facilities and to the best of our knowledge there is no outstanding request for our local staff to come and talk to them or to appear for detention,” he said.

Turkey-US cooperation

Bass told reporters the United States did not intend to disrupt a long-standing relationship with Turkey and the two countries would continue to engage on the issue.

"It's not in our interests, it's not our intention, to disrupt long standing relationships between the two latter societies," he said.

Bass said he hopes the two countries can quickly resolve their current differences, stressing that cooperation between the two allies helped reduce terror attacks in Turkey.

Close security cooperation ensured that Daesh was no longer able to carry the kind of attacks that plagued Turkey in 2015 and 2016, he said.

'Deeply disturbing' actions

US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Tuesday that it was "deeply disturbing" that Turkey has taken actions against US officials in Turkey, taking two staff members into custody and questioning another US employee.

Erdogan blamed Bass on Tuesday for the diplomatic crisis between the two countries and said Ankara no longer considered him Washington's envoy.

Erdogan suggested Bass acted unilaterally in suspending visa services in Turkey after the arrest of a US consulate worker, and said "agents" had infiltrated US missions.

However, on Wednesday Bass told reporters in Ankara that the decision had been taken by the US government.

"I think it’s important to correct any misinterpret about the decision. It was a decision taken by the US government," he said.

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 military coup in Turkey, and US court cases against Turkish officials.

Military relations

A diplomatic dispute between Turkey and the US has not affected military operations or personnel out of Turkey, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.

"I can confirm that these developments have not impacted our operations or personnel," Pentagon spokesman Colonel Robert Manning told reporters. 

"The Turkish air force base in Incirlik continues to fulfil an important role supporting NATO and coalition efforts."

He said that Turkey was a close NATO ally and the US would continue to coordinate joint and separate military activities with Ankara.