State Department to allow 'full resumption' of visas in Turkey
The State Department announced Thursday it would allow for the "full resumption" of visa services in Turkey after they were suspended in October.
"Since October, the government of Turkey has adhered to the high-level assurances it provided to the United States that there are no additional local employees of our Mission in Turkey under investigation, that local staff of our Embassy and consulates will not be detained or arrested for performing their official duties — including communicating with Turkish officials also working in an official capacity," the department said in a statement.
"Based on adherence to these assurances, the Department of State is confident that the security posture has improved sufficiently to allow for the full resumption of visa services in Turkey," it said.
The announcement comes roughly two months after the department announced it would suspend visa services in the country following a U.S. consulate employee's arrest in Istanbul.
Two U.S. citizens were arrested this year on suspicion of aiding a coup aimed at taking out Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The State Department warned in its statement on Thursday that it was concerned about other arrests of other consulate employees in the country, saying the U.S. would "continue to engage with their Turkish counterparts to seek a satisfactory resolution to these cases."
The U.S. Embassy in Turkey announced earlier this month it would start accepting appointments for visa applications in January 2019.
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