A US decision to suspend all non-immigrant visa services at its diplomatic missions in Turkey has prompted reactions among ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) circles.
Linking the US decision to the Turkish military operation in Idlib in Syria, Hamza Dağ, deputy chairman of the AKP, on his Twitter account called on John Bass, the departing US ambassador to Turkey, to leave the country, saying “Piss off!” and mentioning the US Embassy Twitter account.
Burhan Kuzu, senior member of the AKP and former top adviser of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, reacted to the decision on Twitter: “Our military walking all over the US in Syria has disturbed the US. Cowards die many times before their deaths. You will not stop the rise of Turkey.”
Describing the visa decision as a reaction to the revelation of relations between the Gülen movement and the US, pro-government journalist Halime Kökçe on Twitter called on the new ambassador who will replace Bass not to come to Turkey.
While Barış Ertem, an academic at Istanbul Technical University, called on the US mission to completely leave Turkey and declared people who have rationalized US decision “traitors,” Islamist journalist Adem Özköse tweeted: “Yankee Go Home… Close Incirlik Air Base…”