Linda Stuart Specht, the US consul in Adana, has said she wanted to meet with governors, district governors and mayors during visits to various provinces of southeastern Turkey but that her requests were turned down.
Speaking during a meeting with civil society organizations from Diyarbakır on Tuesday, Specht said: “We made a request to meet with government officials, yet they once again denied our request. I am disappointed about not being able to meet with officials whose opinions concerning this complicated situation in the Southeast, including Diyarbakır, we care about.”
Governors and local mayors in Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa and Diyarbakır provinces had not shown up for scheduled appointments with Specht in March.
Specht, who is planning to meet with organizations supporting refugees and representatives of political parties, said they cared about these meetings to understand the southeastern region better and to improve relations between Turkey and the US.