Ankara Hopes US Would Reconsider Suspension of Visa Services to Turkish Citizens

A woman waits in front of the visa application office entrance of the US Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, October 9, 2017. (Reuters)
A woman waits in front of the visa application office entrance of the US Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, October 9, 2017. (Reuters)
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Ankara Hopes US Would Reconsider Suspension of Visa Services to Turkish Citizens

A woman waits in front of the visa application office entrance of the US Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, October 9, 2017. (Reuters)
A woman waits in front of the visa application office entrance of the US Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, October 9, 2017. (Reuters)

Turkey hoped on Monday that Washington would go back on its decision to suspend most visa services to Turkish citizens following a spat with Ankara.

The row erupted when a Turkish employee of the US consulate in Istanbul was arrested last week.

Turkey’s Justice Minister said on Monday that the decision to proceed with the case against the detained consulate worker was one for the Turkish judiciary to take.

"Trying a Turkish citizen for a crime committed in Turkey is our right. I hope the US will revise its decision in this light," Abdulhamit Gul told A Haber television.

The American embassy in Ankara said that "recent events" forced the US government to reassess Turkey's "commitment" to the security of US mission services and personnel in the country.

In order to minimize the number of visitors while the assessment is carried out, "effective immediately we have suspended all non-immigrant visa services at all US diplomatic facilities in Turkey," it said.

Non-immigrant visas are issued to all those traveling to the United States for tourism, medical treatment, business, temporary work or study. Immigrant visa services are only for those seeking to live in the US permanently.

Ankara responded by suspending "all visa services" for Americans in the US, saying the measures also apply to visas issued online and at the border.

In an apparent attempt to mock the US announcement, the Turkish embassy in Washington issued two statements that were almost word-for-word copies of that from the American embassy in Ankara.

The statements said concerns over US commitment to the security of Turkish diplomatic facilities and personnel necessitated the restrictions, but the fact that they only apply to Americans and also include visas issued at the border and online indicate the move is punitive rather than security-based.

The first statement from the Turkish embassy said the restrictions apply to "visas in passports" while the second replaced that wording with "sticker visas". It was unclear if that meant that visas already stamped in passports would not be accepted.

Beyond its mention of "recent events", the American embassy statement made no explicit mention of the arrest by Turkish authorities of a local Turkish staffer working at the US consulate in Istanbul.

The employee, Metin Topuz, was remanded in custody by an Istanbul court late Wednesday on accusations of links to the group of US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, blamed by Ankara for last year's failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The staffer has been formally charged with espionage and seeking to overthrow the Turkish government. Turkey's official Anadolu news agency reported that he allegedly communicated with former police chiefs in a 2013 corruption probe, 121 people involved in the attempted coup and hundreds of people using an encrypted mobile messaging application.

The US embassy on Thursday said it was "deeply disturbed" over the arrest and rejected the allegations against the employee as "wholly without merit".

It also condemned leaks in the local press which it said came from Turkish government sources that were "seemingly aimed at trying the employee in the media rather than a court of law".

But Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin has defended the arrest, saying "there must be serious evidence" and pointing to a phone call made from the Istanbul consulate to a key suspect on the night of the coup.

Hamza Ulucay, a translator of the US Consulate in the southern province of Adana, was arrested in March for alleged links to outlawed Kurdish militants.

For Soner Cagaptay, Director of the Turkish Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in Washington DC, the situation signifies the unfolding of an historic crisis in US-Turkey relations.

"The idea is that this step would convince the Turkish elites to persuade Erdogan to stop harassing US citizens in Turkey -- I think Erdogan will do the opposite and escalate," he told AFP.

The pro-government Yeni Safak daily described it as "a scandalous decision from the United States".

Turkish officials had expressed hope of a new page in Ankara-Washington relations under President Donald Trump.

Turkey has pressed Washington for the extradition of Pennsylvania-based Gulen, who denies any link to the coup bid -- but the lack of movement on the issue has further strained ties.

More than 50,000 people have been arrested and 110,000 have been fired from government jobs as part of a state of emergency declared after the failed coup in Turkey.



Rubio Says US Will Not Accept Iranian Tolls on Hormuz

 Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 22, 2026. (Reuters)
Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 22, 2026. (Reuters)
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Rubio Says US Will Not Accept Iranian Tolls on Hormuz

 Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 22, 2026. (Reuters)
Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 22, 2026. (Reuters)

Washington's top diplomat insisted Tuesday that the US would not accept any attempt to impose tolls or fees on Strait of Hormuz, the key waterway where the UN said it would begin evacuating thousands of sailors stranded by the Middle East war 

The US and Iran have signed a preliminary deal to halt the war, and concluded a first round of talks in Switzerland as part of a 60-day negotiation period to settle outstanding issues like sanctions relief and the fate of Tehran's nuclear program. 

An Iranian blockade that began early in the conflict choked off maritime traffic through the Hormuz strait -- sending global oil prices surging -- but crossings have begun to rise again since the US-Iran deal was inked. 

Iran has repeatedly maintained it will retain control over the waterway, including on Tuesday, when it and Oman said in a joint statement that they would study the administration of the trade route and the costs to be charged for services provided, insisting on their sovereignty over the strait. 

But US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, kicking off a regional tour, reiterated Washington's position that such an arrangement would be unacceptable. 

"It's an international waterway. No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway," he said from Abu Dhabi, adding that he believed "all the countries in this region would agree". 

Tehran's top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, had earlier insisted the Strait of Hormuz "will never return" to the pre-war status quo, despite the foes agreeing to set up communication lines to keep it open. 

- Muscat meeting - 

Oman and Iran agreed on Tuesday to press on with discussions about the future administration of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. 

In a joint statement issued after talks in Muscat, they said a joint working group involving their foreign ministries ‌would be ‌formed to continue the discussions and ‌that they ⁠would consult other ⁠littoral states and relevant parties.  

The move appears to implement a provision of the memorandum of understanding signed last week that calls for Iran to hold talks with Oman and other states on the future management of ⁠navigation and maritime services in the strait, ‌a vital waterway ‌for global oil supplies.  

The agreement was announced following a ‌visit by Speaker Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who met Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tariq and held talks with Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi.  

In the statement, Oman and ‌Iran, the two states bordering the strait, reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring ⁠safe ⁠passage through the waterway in accordance with international law while underlining sovereignty over their territorial waters.  

Since the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran in February, the strait has been largely closed to commercial shipping. The United States blockaded Iranian ports after Iran started effectively blocking the strait.  

Oman and Iran reaffirmed their commitment to the strait being a secure and open route for international navigation and to promoting maritime safety, freedom of navigation and regional stability. 

The head of the UN's International Maritime Organization, meanwhile, said it would begin evacuating more than 11,000 sailors stranded by the Hormuz blockade in cooperation with Iran, Oman and the United States, adding it had "secured the necessary safety guarantees". 

Traffic through the strait on Monday reached the highest level since the start of the war, according to two maritime tracking platforms, representing just over 40 percent of the normal peacetime level of about 120 vessels per day. 


Tehran Gets Three-Day Holiday for Ali Khamenei Funeral

An Iranian man walks past a banner depicting slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei at Valiasr Square in Tehran on June 15, 2026. (AFP)
An Iranian man walks past a banner depicting slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei at Valiasr Square in Tehran on June 15, 2026. (AFP)
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Tehran Gets Three-Day Holiday for Ali Khamenei Funeral

An Iranian man walks past a banner depicting slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei at Valiasr Square in Tehran on June 15, 2026. (AFP)
An Iranian man walks past a banner depicting slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei at Valiasr Square in Tehran on June 15, 2026. (AFP)

Iran announced Tuesday three days of public holidays in the capital Tehran for late supreme leader Ali Khamenei's funeral ceremonies, state television reported.

"The farewell ceremony and prayers for the martyred leader's body will be held on Saturday and Sunday, July 4th and 5th, in Tehran's Grand Mosalla, and the funeral will be held on Monday, July 6th, and Tehran province will be off for these three days," Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commander Hassan Hassanzadeh, in charge of the ceremonies, was quoted as saying.

Earlier, state media said Tehran would be on holiday on July 4 and 5, while the rest of the country will join it on July 6.

Tehran authorities expect an attendance of around 20 million.

The northern city of Qom will also host a tribute on July 7.

Ali Khamenei will be laid to rest on July 9 in the northeastern city of Mashhad, his birthplace.

These two cities will also observe public holidays.

Neighboring Iraq has scheduled ceremonies for July 8.

The funeral was originally planned for March but was postponed due to the war in the Middle East, which was triggered by the US-Israeli attacks in February that killed Khamenei.

Ali Khamenei's son Mojtaba succeeded his father as supreme leader in early March, becoming the third person to hold the position since the regime was established in 1979.

Mojtaba Khamenei was wounded in the bombing that killed his father and other officials. He has not been seen in public since his appointment and communicates solely through official statements.


China’s Newest Aircraft Carrier Sails Through the Taiwan Strait

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, China's third conventionally powered aircraft carrier, the Fujian, conducts a maiden sea trial on May 7, 2024. (Ding Ziyu/Xinhua via AP, File)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, China's third conventionally powered aircraft carrier, the Fujian, conducts a maiden sea trial on May 7, 2024. (Ding Ziyu/Xinhua via AP, File)
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China’s Newest Aircraft Carrier Sails Through the Taiwan Strait

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, China's third conventionally powered aircraft carrier, the Fujian, conducts a maiden sea trial on May 7, 2024. (Ding Ziyu/Xinhua via AP, File)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, China's third conventionally powered aircraft carrier, the Fujian, conducts a maiden sea trial on May 7, 2024. (Ding Ziyu/Xinhua via AP, File)

China’s newest and most powerful of its three aircraft carriers sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, the Taiwanese defense ministry said, a day after Taiwan began a five-day military exercise on responding to a Chinese attack.

The Fujian carrier first sailed through the narrow body of water separating China and Taiwan in a trial run last September. It later transited the strait for the first time as a fully commissioned military vessel in December.

China claims the self-governed island as part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to bring it under Beijing's control. China regularly sends navy vessels and war planes towards Taiwan in military exercises that have become more frequent in recent years to where they now occur almost daily.

Taiwan on Monday kicked off its own five-day exercise to support its response in case of a possible Chinese military invasion.

The US Navy sends warships through the strait periodically, as do some of its allies, in a warning to Beijing against any attempt to use force to establish its claim to the island.

The Fujian was commissioned in November 2025. It is world’s largest nonnuclear-powered warship, according to the US Naval Institute, and is considered more advanced than China's other two carriers, the Shandong and the Liaoning.