Turkey's CHP slams U.S. decision on visa appointments

By Muhammet Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish main opposition Republican People's (CHP) Party on Tuesday criticized the U.S. decision on delaying visa appointments of Turkish citizens until January 2019.

Speaking to journalists in the parliament, Ozgur Ozel, CHP parliamentary deputy group chairman, recalled that his party had been criticizing the U.S. visa decision since the beginning of the crisis on Oct. 8.

Ozel said that the political conflict between Turkey and the U.S. should not be allowed to adversely affect the citizens of the two countries.

"Politics should not turn this conflict into a means of oppressing citizens. It’s not right. What the U.S. did is incorrect," he said.

U.S. missions in Ankara and Istanbul on Tuesday said they would be able to offer visa appointments in January 2019 at the earliest.

"In spite of long wait times, the U.S. Mission to Turkey continues to process non-immigrant visas," the U.S. Embassy in Turkey posted on Twitter.

Ozel called on the U.S. government to not increase the tension between the two countries over the visa issue.

"We have not approved of this crisis since its beginning. We also do not approve of this new challenge now," said Ozel.

On Oct. 8, the U.S. Embassy announced the suspension of non-immigrant visa services to Turkish nationals. The move came after the arrest of a local employee working at the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul, prompting a tit-for-tat response from Ankara.

Metin Topuz, a long-time consulate employee, was arrested over alleged ties to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind last year’s defeated coup attempt in Turkey.

On Nov. 4, the U.S. Embassy in Turkey announced that visa applications were again being processed on a limited basis at its diplomatic missions in Turkey.

Following the U.S. move, Turkish missions in the U.S. also resumed processing visa applications by U.S. citizens at its diplomatic and consular missions in the U.S., also on a “limited basis.”