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.”



Ex-president Sarkozy Stripped of France's Top Honor after Conviction

Nicolas Sarkozy has been beset by legal problems since leaving office. Bertrand GUAY / AFP/File
Nicolas Sarkozy has been beset by legal problems since leaving office. Bertrand GUAY / AFP/File
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Ex-president Sarkozy Stripped of France's Top Honor after Conviction

Nicolas Sarkozy has been beset by legal problems since leaving office. Bertrand GUAY / AFP/File
Nicolas Sarkozy has been beset by legal problems since leaving office. Bertrand GUAY / AFP/File

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been stripped of his Legion of Honor -- the country's highest distinction -- following a conviction for graft, according to a decree published Sunday.

The right-winger has been beset by legal problems since he was defeated in the 2012 presidential election after serving one five-year term.

Sarkozy, 70, had been wearing an electronic ankle tag until last month after France's highest appeals court upheld his conviction last December of trying to illegally secure favors from a judge.

According to the code of the Legion of Honor, France's top state award, any person definitively sentenced to a term in prison equal to or greater than one year is excluded from the order.

But French President Emmanuel Macron had argued against such a move in April, saying that scandal-plagued Sarkozy had been elected and it was "very important that former presidents are respected".

Despite his legal problems, Sarkozy remains an influential figure on the right and is known to regularly socialize with the president.

Sarkozy becomes the second former head of state to be stripped of the award after Nazi collaborator Philippe Petain, who was convicted in August 1945 for high treason and conspiring with the enemy.

Others to have been stripped of the honor include former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, drug cheat cyclist Lance Armstrong and movie mogul Harvey Weinstein whose conduct with women sparked the #MeToo movement against sexual violence.

Sarkozy is using his last remaining legal avenue, an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, to defend himself against the conviction.

'Shameful' comparison

Sarkozy's lawyer Patrice Spinosi said the former president had "taken note" of the decision to strip him of the Legion of Honor, but stressed that the petition lodged with the ECHR was "still pending".

Any ECHR ruling against France would "imply reviewing the criminal conviction against (Sarkozy) as well as his exclusion from the order of the Legion of Honor", Spinosi said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot stressed that the "case has not been completely closed" in view of the appeal at European level.

Government spokeswoman Sophie Primas added that comparisons between Sarkozy and Petain were "shameful".

Sarkozy is currently on trial in a separate case on charges of accepting illegal campaign financing in an alleged pact with late Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi.

The court is to issue a verdict in September with prosecutors asking for a seven-year prison term for Sarkozy, who denies the charges.

The Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor, General Francois Lecointre, has stressed the importance of disciplinary measures to uphold the order's integrity.

Lecointre told reporters in March that "the honor of the order depends on the fact that those decorated can also be sanctioned."