Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Saturday said the US has to learn how to talk to Turkey, underlining that old habits must be changed.
“A congressman called our ambassador to Washington [Serdar Kılıç] and said, ‘Who are you that you dare to [stop issuing] visas for American citizens.’ Our ambassador said, ‘You should read history to understand it.’ ‘Well done!’ I told my ambassador. I used to see them doing something and we stayed silent. They talked and we just swallowed. That is finished,” said Çavuşoğlu during a party meeting in Antalya province.
“I am trying to say this: In order to have functioning relations with Turkey, you have to learn how to treat Turkey. You have to forget old habits,” added Çavuşoğlu.
On Oct. 8, the US and Turkey halted non-immigrant visa services in their respective missions after Metin Topuz, a staff member at the US Consulate General in İstanbul, was arrested on Oct. 4 on espionage charges and alleged links to some leading members of the faith-based Gülen movement.
Minutes after the United States resumed processing visas at its missions in Turkey on a “limited” basis on Nov. 6, Turkey announced the resumption of visa issuance at its missions in the US in what could signal a tentative improvement in the ongoing diplomatic crisis between the two countries.