Ambassador John Bass is due to leave Turkey within a matter of days having been recently named ambassador to Afghanistan, but the Turkish president has officially sidelined him anyway.
“We have not agreed and are not agreeing to this ambassador making farewell visits with ministers, the parliament speaker and myself,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a news conference in Belgrade.
“We do not see him as the representative of the United States in Turkey,” he added.
Erdogan accused Bass of allowing “agents” to infiltrate the US missions.
The spat began last week when Turkey arrested a Turkish national employed at the US consulate in Istanbul on allegations of terrorism and ties to the groups accused of orchestrating last years failed coup, the Gulen Movement.
The US responded on Sunday, announcing the suspension of non-immigrant visa services in Turkey, citing concerns about the security of the staff at its missions.
Within minutes, Turkey’s embassy in Washington issued a similar suspension of visa services in the US.
On Monday, Turkish authorities issued a summons for another employee of the US Istanbul consulate while officials called on the US to end the suspension.
Ambassador Bass issued a statement Monday evening, explaining the move. He said they were concerned that the purpose of arresting their employee was to “disrupt the long-standing cooperation between Turkey and the United States,” thereby putting their staff and facilities at risk. The job of the employee arrested was “strengthening law enforcement cooperation” between their two countries, Bass explained.
Turkish business leaders have urged a quick resolution to the crisis.
“International companies, headquartered in the U.S. and Turkey, want to see a further deepening in bilateral ties between Turkey and the U.S., two key NATO allies, and they make a crucial contribution to boosting these ties through investments. We hope the recent problems will be resolved by diplomacy,” said Ahmet Erdem, president of the International Investors Association (YASED), according to Hurriyet Daily News.
The Pentagon has stated that the row has not affected military operations out of Turkey’s Incirlik airbase, being used by members of the anti-ISIS coalition.
