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US, Turkey Resume ‘Limited’ Visa Processes

A woman walks past the US Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, October 9, 2017. (Reuters)
A woman walks past the US Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, October 9, 2017. (Reuters)
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US, Turkey Resume ‘Limited’ Visa Processes

A woman walks past the US Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, October 9, 2017. (Reuters)
A woman walks past the US Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, October 9, 2017. (Reuters)

The United States and Turkey announced that they were resuming “limited” visa processing applications for citizens of both countries after a diplomatic crisis erupted last month over Ankara’s detention of a US consulate employee.

Washington’s move came after it received reassurances from Ankara that no local staff would be detained or arrested for "performing their duties," the US Embassy said Monday.

"Based on these preliminary assurances, we believe the security posture has improved sufficiently to allow for the resumption of limited visa services in Turkey," the embassy said in a statement.

A US embassy statement said it had received "high-level assurances" from Turkey that no additional local employees were under investigation.

The Turkish government also gave assurances that local staff members would not be detained or arrested "for performing their official duties" and that Washington would be given information in advance if Turkish officials intend to arrest local staff in the future.

The Turkish Embassy in Washington posted a brief statement on Twitter, announcing that it was also resuming "limited" visa services.

Last month, the United States halted most visa services for Turkish citizens after Turkish authorities arrested Metin Topuz, a Turkish employee at the US consulate in Istanbul, deepening already strained ties between Ankara and Washington. Turkey retaliated by halting visa services in the US for Americans who want to travel to Turkey.

The Turkish Embassy issued a second statement saying that no assurances were given to US officials over any ongoing legal case. The statement also insisted that Topuz was not arrested "not for performing his official duties but because of serious accusations" against him.

The announcements came a day before Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim is due to travel to the United States to meet Vice President Mike Pence for talks aimed at mending frayed ties between the two NATO allies, including over Turkish demands for the extradition US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is blamed for last year's failed coup, and Washington's backing of Syrian Kurds, whom Turkey considers to be terrorists.

Yildirim on Tuesday described the United States’ move to partially resume issuing visas in Turkey as a positive step, but said Washington should extradite Gulen.

“The limited reissuing of visas between the United States and Turkey... prior to our visit can be seen as a positive development,” he added.

Topuz was detained on charges of espionage and alleged ties to Gulen. He was the second local staff member at a US mission in Turkey to be held. The US Embassy denies the accusations against them.

The Turkish Embassy statement said Ankara also has grievances concerning legal cases against Turkish citizens in the US It didn't elaborate.

Gulen denies involvement in the attempted coup.

Yildirim said Gulen’s extradition would be discussed during his US visit, as well as the fate of some Turkish citizens arrested in the United States - a reference to the wealthy gold trader who was arrested over Iran sanctions evasion last year and an executive at a state-owned bank arrested this year.

“We have strong evidence that Gulen was behind the July 15 coup attempt and we want his extradition. We want the concerns we have regarding the cases of our citizens arrested in the United States to be eased,” Yildirim said.

“They also have similar requests, and diplomatic channels are being used for discussions, we are both seeking a way out.”

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World

EU to Slash Asylum Cases from 7 Nations Deemed Safe

FILE - A convoy of buses carry Syrian refugees who return home from Lebanon, arrive at the Syrian border crossing point, in Jdeidet Yabous, Syria, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki, File)
FILE - A convoy of buses carry Syrian refugees who return home from Lebanon, arrive at the Syrian border crossing point, in Jdeidet Yabous, Syria, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki, File)
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EU to Slash Asylum Cases from 7 Nations Deemed Safe

FILE - A convoy of buses carry Syrian refugees who return home from Lebanon, arrive at the Syrian border crossing point, in Jdeidet Yabous, Syria, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki, File)
FILE - A convoy of buses carry Syrian refugees who return home from Lebanon, arrive at the Syrian border crossing point, in Jdeidet Yabous, Syria, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki, File)

The European Union on Thursday said it would drastically reduce asylum claims from seven nations in Africa, the Middle East and Asia by considering them safe countries of origin, prompting widespread outrage from human rights groups on International Migrants' Day.

An agreement between European Parliament and the European Council, or the group of the 27 EU heads of state, said that the countries would be considered safe if they lack “relevant circumstances, such as indiscriminate violence in the context of an armed conflict.”

Asylum requests by people from Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Kosovo, India, Morocco and Tunisia will be "fast-tracked, with applicants having to prove that this provision should not apply to them,” read the announcement of the agreement. “The list can be expanded in the future under the EU’s ordinary legislative procedure.”

In 2024, EU nations endorsed sweeping reforms to the bloc’s failed asylum system. The rules were meant to resolve the issues that have divided the 27 countries since well over 1 million migrants swept into Europe in 2015, most fleeing war in Syria and Iraq.

Under the Pact on Migration and Asylum, which goes into force in June 2026, people can be sent to countries deemed safe, but not to those where they face the risk of physical harm or persecution.

According to The Associated Press, Amnesty International EU advocate Olivia Sundberg Diez said the new measures were “a shameless attempt to sidestep international legal obligations" and would endanger migrants.

French MEP Mélissa Camara said the safe countries of origins concept and others agreed to by the Council and Parliament “opens the door to return hubs outside the EU’s borders, where third-country nationals are sometimes subjected to inhumane treatment with almost no monitoring” and “undoubtedly places thousands of people in exile in situations of danger.”

Céline Mias, the EU director of the Danish Refugee Council said that "we are deeply worried that this fast-track system will fail to protect people in need of protection, including activists, journalists and marginalized groups in places where human rights are clearly under attack.”

Alessandro Ciriani, an Italian MEP with the European Conservatives and Reformists group, said the designation sends a firm message that the EU has toughened its borders.

“Europe wants enforceable rules and shared responsibility. Now this commitment must become operational: effective returns, structured cooperation with third countries and real measures to support EU member states,” he said.

He said that clear delineations of safe and unsafe nations would rid the EU of “excessive interpretative uncertainty” that led to a kind of paralysis for national decision makers over border controls.

The measures also allows individual nations within the bloc to designate other countries safe for their own immigration purposes.

World

Rubio Says US Sanctioning ICC Judges for Targeting Israel

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to traveling journalists at the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport in Hamilton, Ontario, on November 12, 2025 after the G7 foreign ministers meeting. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / POOL / AFP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to traveling journalists at the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport in Hamilton, Ontario, on November 12, 2025 after the G7 foreign ministers meeting. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / POOL / AFP)
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Rubio Says US Sanctioning ICC Judges for Targeting Israel

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to traveling journalists at the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport in Hamilton, Ontario, on November 12, 2025 after the G7 foreign ministers meeting. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / POOL / AFP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to traveling journalists at the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport in Hamilton, Ontario, on November 12, 2025 after the G7 foreign ministers meeting. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / POOL / AFP)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that the US was sanctioning two judges of the International Criminal Court for targeting Israel.

"Today, I am designating two International Criminal Court (ICC) judges, Gocha Lordkipanidze of Georgia and Erdenebalsuren Damdin of Mongolia, pursuant to Executive Order 14203," Rubio said in a statement, referring to the order President Donald Trump signed in February sanctioning the ICC, Reuters reported.

"These individuals have directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israeli nationals, without Israel's consent," he said.

The United States and Israel are not members of the ICC.

The US sanctions in February include freezing any US assets of those designated and barring them and their families from visiting the United States.

World

US Imposes Sanctions on Vessels Linked to Iran, Treasury Website Says

A crew member raises the Iranian flag on Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, previously named Grace 1, as it sits anchored after the Supreme Court of the British territory lifted its detention order, in the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain, August 18, 2019. REUTERS/Jon Nazca
A crew member raises the Iranian flag on Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, previously named Grace 1, as it sits anchored after the Supreme Court of the British territory lifted its detention order, in the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain, August 18, 2019. REUTERS/Jon Nazca
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US Imposes Sanctions on Vessels Linked to Iran, Treasury Website Says

A crew member raises the Iranian flag on Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, previously named Grace 1, as it sits anchored after the Supreme Court of the British territory lifted its detention order, in the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain, August 18, 2019. REUTERS/Jon Nazca
A crew member raises the Iranian flag on Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, previously named Grace 1, as it sits anchored after the Supreme Court of the British territory lifted its detention order, in the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain, August 18, 2019. REUTERS/Jon Nazca

The United States imposed sanctions on Thursday on 29 vessels and their management firms, the Treasury Department said, as Washington continues targeting Tehran's "shadow fleet" it says exports Iranian petroleum and petroleum products, Reuters reported.

The targeted vessels and companies have transported hundreds of millions of dollars of the products through deceptive shipping practices, Treasury said.

Thursday's action also targets businessman Hatem Elsaid Farid Ibrahim Sakr, whose companies are associated with seven of the vessels cited, as well as multiple shipping companies.