ISTANBUL �� The U.S. suspended visa services for visitors from Turkey in an escalation of tensions between the countries.
The suspension followed the arrest Wednesday of a Turkish national who works at the U.S. consulate in Istanbul. Turkey said the employee was involved in the July 2016 coup attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The U.S. said Thursday that it was "deeply disturbed" by the arrest, terming charges against the man "wholly without merit," and by leaks from Turkish government sources seemingly aimed at "trying the employee in the media rather than a court of law." Turkey responded by saying the arrested Turkish citizen wasn't part of the consulate's staff but was a "local employee."
Relations between Turkey and some Western countries soured after the coup attempt. Erdogan has accused U.S.-based Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen of organizing the attempt, and has become increasingly impatient with the U.S. for not turning him over.
In a briefing Sept. 27, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the U.S. had received "several requests" for Gulen's extradition but "haven't talked about this in a while."
"We continue to evaluate it, take a look at the materials that the Turkish government has provided us," Nauert said.
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(Jordan Yadoo contributed to this report.)
