TURKEY Vs US: Tit-for-tat response justified, Erdogan says

The tit-for-tat response by Ankara after Washington’s decision to suspend all non-immigrant visa applications has been described by the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan as very, very “saddening”, even as he justified the reply by his country.

Speaking at a joint news conference on Monday with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Porochenko in Ukraine’s capital Kiev, Erdogan said; “For the (US) ambassador in Ankara to take a decision like this, to put it into practice, is saddening.”

Erdogan said after the US took the decision to suspend all non-immigrant visa applications, he immediately ordered the Turkish Embassy in Washington to carry out a retaliatory measure.

Read also: TIT FOR TAT! Turkey, US missions suspend services over staff security

“Turkey is governed by the rule of law. Above all, we are not a tribe, we are not a tribal state,” he said.

24-hours ago, the US said it was restricting visa services, saying that recent events had forced it to “reassess” Ankara’s comment to the security of US facilities and staff.

Hours after the move by the US, Ankara suspended non-immigrant visa services at all Turkish diplomatic facilities in the United States, stating that the measure “will apply to sticker visas as well as e-Visas and border visas”.

 

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