Turkish President Erdogan Blames U.S. Ambassador for Visa Row<br />10, 2017<br />ISTANBUL — Turkish officials assailed the United States on Tuesday for its decision to suspend visas for Turkish citizens, defending their right to detain American Embassy employees they accused of spying<br />and blaming the American ambassador for the diplomatic dispute.<br />The State Department defended Mr. Bass on Tuesday,<br />and said the decision to suspend visa services in Turkey had been cleared at the highest levels of the United States government, including the State Department and the White House.<br />The American suspension of all nonimmigrant visas could affect over 100,000 Turkish citizens who travel to the United States annually,<br />but Turkey is likely to suffer more: Roughly half a million Americans, business travelers and tourists, visit Turkey annually.<br />Political analysts say Mr. Erdogan is also concerned about court cases in the United States against 15 of his bodyguards, who are accused of attacking protesters in Washington in May,<br />and a group, including a former cabinet minister, charged with conspiring to break Iranian sanctions.<br />Mr. Erdogan said on Tuesday that Gulen followers had infiltrated the American Consulate in Istanbul,<br />and he questioned why the United States had tolerated them.
