ANKARA: Turkish-American relations witnessed an unexpected development toward the end of the year.
On Thursday, the announcement by the US Embassy to Turkey of the full resumption of visa services gave a glimmer of hope for the restoration of ties between Ankara and Washington after months of deterioration.
As it did when announcing the reciprocal visa restrictions on Oct. 8 on a tit-for-tat basis, the US Embassy in Ankara and the Turkish Embassy in Washington issued separate statements on their Twitter accounts to announce the reopening of full-capacity visa proceedings for each other’s citizens.
The decision is the result of intense diplomatic contacts between Turkish and American foreign ministers, Mevlut Cavusoglu and Rex Tillerson, in early December, as well as regular communications among technocrats on both sides.
The US had suspended non-immigration visa applications to Turkish nationals after Turkey arrested a local employee at the US consulate in Istanbul and a translator at the US consulate in the southern province of Adana on terrorism charges. Washington has also urged Turkey to release Andrew Brunson, the American pastor who was imprisoned a year ago on terrorism charges.
Up until this latest decision, the slowdown in visa proceedings meant the earliest appointment was scheduled for January 2019.
In the statement issued by the US Embassy to Turkey, the US said that the Turkish government had given high-level assurances “that local employees working at the US diplomatic missions will not be detained or arrested for performing their official duties, and that Turkish authorities will inform the US government in advance if the government of Turkey intends to detain or arrest any member of our local staff in the future.”
It also stated that the Department of State is reassured that “the security posture has improved sufficiently to allow for the full resumption of visa services in Turkey.”
“We continue to have serious concerns about the existing allegations against arrested local employees of our mission in Turkey. We are also concerned about cases against US citizens who have been arrested under the state of emergency. US officials will continue to engage with their Turkish counterparts to seek a satisfactory resolution of these cases,” the statement said.
As a welcoming reaction to the move, Turkey lifted visa restrictions on American nationals, but denied that the Turkish government had given any assurances on ongoing legal cases in Turkey; and accused the US of misinforming the Turkish and American public with these claims.
According to Megan Gisclon, a researcher on US-Turkey relations at the Istanbul Policy Center, relations between the US and Turkey hit rock bottom at the onset of the visa crisis.
“While the joint decision to lift visa restrictions is a promising step forward for bilateral ties, one must also recognize that once you’ve hit rock bottom, there is nowhere to go but up,” Gisclon told Arab News.
“As longtime allies and NATO allies, such a large roadblock cannot permanently exist in government-to-government relations or in people-to-people relations — even despite the many differences between the US and Turkey,” she said.
Gisclon said that the end of the crisis was inevitable, but it was hard to say for certain why it had ended now without further explanation from officials.
“Some are saying that the lifting of visa restrictions took place now to stop Turkey’s alignment with Russia and Iran as quickly as possible; however, this shift has been going on for a while,” she said, adding that the US might be trying to fix broken US-Turkey relations following the rapprochement of Turkey to Iran and the Russia axis in the settlement process of the Syrian conflict.
But according to experts, the visa crisis was the easiest of the problems between the two countries to resolve.
The purchase by Turkey of the Russian S-400 missile system is a significant concern for the Pentagon, which has warned that it could influence Ankara’s operation of F-35 jets and their integration with NATO’s air defense system. The US may reportedly take economic sanctions, especially toward the Turkish defense industry, in retaliation for the S-400 deal.
For Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, Ankara director of the German Marshall Fund of the US, the visa crisis was a symptom of the real problems between Washington and Ankara, and its solution did not indicate that the issues were resolved or would be resolved any time soon.
“Lack of strategic thinking in Washington and the regime survival mode in Ankara makes it very difficult for the two allies to sort out their differences,” Unluhisarcikli told Arab News.
A recent survey conducted by Istanbul Kadir Has University, “2017 Results of the Survey on Turkish Foreign Policy,” found that 66.5 percent of respondents saw the US as presenting the biggest threat to Turkey.
Visa stalemate ends between Ankara and Washington
Visa stalemate ends between Ankara and Washington
Musk regrets some of his Trump criticisms, says they ‘went too far’
- ‘I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far’
“I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far,” Musk wrote on his social media platform X.
South Korea halts loudspeaker broadcasts along border with rival North Korea
- The South resumed the loudspeaker broadcasts in June last year following a years-long pause
SEOUL, South Korea: South Korea’s military has shut down loudspeakers broadcasting anti-North Korean propaganda along the inter-Korean border, in a move aimed at easing tensions.
The South resumed the loudspeaker broadcasts in June last year following a years-long pause in retaliation for North Korea flying trash-laden balloons toward the South in a psychological warfare campaign.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday the move was part of efforts to “to restore trust in inter-Korean relations and promote peace on the Korean Peninsula.”
Chinese aircraft carriers in Pacific show country’s ‘expansionist’ aims, Taiwan says
- China has been flexing its muscles by sending an unusually large number of naval and coast guard vessels through a swathe of East Asian waters
TAIPEI: The two Chinese aircraft carriers spotted conducting simultaneous operations in the Pacific for the first time send a political message about the country’s “expansionist” aims, Taiwan Defense Minister Wellington Koo said on Wednesday.
Japan’s defense minister said the previous day that the appearance of the Chinese aircraft carriers signified Beijing’s intention to further widen its capabilities beyond its borders.
Koo said the armed forces had a “full grasp” of the carriers’ movements.
“Crossing from the first island chain into the second island chain sends a definite political message and their expansionist nature can be seen,” he told reporters in Taipei.
The first island chain refers to an area that runs from Japan down to Taiwan, the Philippines and Borneo, while the second island chain spreads further out into the Pacific to include places like the US territory of Guam.
China’s navy, which has been honing its abilities to operate farther and farther from the country’s coast, said on Tuesday the carrier operations were a “routine training” exercise that did not target specific countries or regions. China operates two carriers, with a third undergoing sea trials.
Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, keeps a close watch on Chinese military movements given the regular drills and war games Beijing stages around the island, and has been modernizing its weapons to better face the People’s Liberation Army.
Taiwan Air Force Chief of Staff Lee Ching-jan, speaking to lawmakers later on Wednesday, said a dozen or so of 66 Lockheed Martin F-16V fighter jets ordered from the United States should arrive this year, with the rest in 2026.
“The US side was optimistic about next year’s scheduled delivery at last month’s meeting on the project, and was very optimistic about the delivery of more than 10 aircraft this year,” he said.
Taiwan has complained about delivery delays for the jets, which have advanced avionics, weapons and radar systems to better face down the Chinese air force, including its J-20 stealth fighter.
Since May, China has been flexing its muscles by sending an unusually large number of naval and coast guard vessels through a swathe of East Asian waters, according to security documents and officials, in moves that have unnerved regional capitals.
Japan’s defense ministry confirmed the two carriers, Liaoning and Shandong, were operating in separate areas of the Pacific on Saturday, both near remote southern islands belonging to Japan.
Earlier, Japan said the Liaoning sailed within its exclusive economic zone near Minamitorishima, a remote island east of Iwo Jima.
Australian murder suspect denies drying deadly mushrooms
- Erin Patterson denies all charges in the trial, which has made headlines worldwide
- She says the beef-and-pastry dish, which she cooked in individually sized portions, was poisoned by accident
SYDNEY: An Australian woman accused of murdering three people with death cap mushrooms denied Wednesday that she turned the fungi into dry powder for the fatal meal.
Erin Patterson, 50, is charged with murdering her estranged husband’s parents and aunt in July 2023 by spiking a beef Wellington lunch with the mushrooms.
She is also accused of attempting to murder a fourth lunch guest – her husband’s uncle – who survived the dish after a long stay in hospital.
Patterson denies all charges in the trial, which has made headlines worldwide.
She says the beef-and-pastry dish, which she cooked in individually sized portions, was poisoned by accident.
Three months before the lunch, phone records placed Patterson in the Victoria state township of Loch, where a sighting of death cap mushrooms had been posted online, the court heard.
Prosecutor Nanette Rogers alleged that within two hours of finding death cap mushrooms in Loch, Patterson bought a dehydrator to use on the fungi.
Patterson admitted to buying the dehydrator.
But she denied purchasing it to dry the death cap mushrooms or that she went to Loch to find the dangerous fungi.
A month later, phone records placed Patterson in a second town in the area, Outtrim, just days after a sighting of death cap mushrooms had been posted online, the court heard.
Patterson denied she went to the area to find the fungi, but said she may have driven by the area.
Rogers suggested Patterson “blitzed” the death cap mushrooms into a powder in order to hide them in the meal.
“Disagree,” Patterson said.
The court heard Patterson had told people that she served the beef Wellington leftovers to her children a day after the lunch, as her sickened guests lay in hospital.
The accused said she scraped off the mushroom and pastry from the dish because her children were fussy eaters.
The prosecutor asked Patterson why she would feed leftovers to her children, while knowing or suspecting that the same meal had put her guests in hospital.
“I didn’t know or suspect that,” Patterson replied.
The prosecutor accused her of telling a “lie about feeding the leftovers” because it gave her “some distance from a deliberate poisoning.”
Patterson replied: “I don’t see how it could, but I disagree.”
The home cook had also invited her estranged husband Simon to join the family lunch at her secluded home in the Victoria state farm village of Leongatha.
But Simon turned down the invitation saying he felt uncomfortable going, the court heard previously. The pair were long estranged but still legally married.
Simon’s parents Don and Gail, and his aunt Heather Wilkinson, attended the lunch. All three were dead within days.
Heather’s husband Ian fell gravely ill but recovered.
The trial in Morwell, southeast of Melbourne, is expected to last another two weeks.
Former student kills 10 in Austrian high school shooting
- Shooter acted alone and took his own life in the toilet at Dreierschuetzengasse high school in Graz
- Europe has been shaken by attacks at schools and universities in recent years that were not connected to terrorism
GRAZ, Austria: Austria will observe a national day of mourning and a minute’s silence on Wednesday after a former student shot dead 10 people at a high school in an unprecedented case of gun violence that stunned the Alpine country.
The 21-year-old shooter acted alone and took his own life in the toilet at Dreierschuetzengasse high school in Graz, police said.
Investigators found a good-bye letter addressed to the suspect’s parents during a search of his residence, but it included no clues about his motive.
After arriving in Graz, Chancellor Christian Stocker described the shooting as “a national tragedy.”
“This is a dark day,” he told reporters Tuesday as he announced three days of national mourning. A minute’s silence will be observed across the country at 10:00 am (0800 GMT) on Wednesday.
Nine victims were immediately confirmed and a woman died later in hospital from her wounds, an official said. A 17-year-old French student was among the victims, his father said.
Twelve people suffered serious injuries and police said support was being provided to witnesses and those affected.
According to police, the alleged perpetrator was an Austrian from the Graz region who used two legally owned weapons.
He was a former student at the high school, but never finished his studies there, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner told reporters.
Bouquets of flowers and candles were placed in front of the school, which has around 400 students aged between 14 and 18, and nearby businesses closed.
One resident, originally from the United States, whose children attend a nearby elementary school and kindergarten, said she was “shocked” and it was “a lot to take in.”
“In my home country it happens more often as we know, but that it happens here is unheard of,” she said, declining to give her name.
“Graz is a safe city,” said Roman Klug, 55, who said he lived close to the school that he said was “known for its openness and diversity.”
Condolences poured in from across Europe.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that “France extends its deepest sympathy to the victims’ families, the Austrian people and Chancellor Stocker during this difficult time.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said “our thoughts are with our Austrian friends and neighbors” following the “horrific” shooting.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban offered his “deepest condolences.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said “the news from Graz touches my heart,” while Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her sympathies to the families of the victims following the “tragic news.”
Attacks in public are rare in Austria, which is home to almost 9.2 million people and ranks among the 10 safest countries in the world, according to the Global Peace Index.
While still less common than in the United States, Europe has been shaken by attacks at schools and universities in recent years that were not connected to terrorism.
In France, a teaching assistant was killed in a knife attack at a school in the eastern town of Nogent on Tuesday.
In January, an 18-year-old man fatally stabbed a high school student and a teacher at a school in northeastern Slovakia.
And in December, a 19-year-old man stabbed a seven-year-old student to death and injured several others at a primary school in Zagreb, Croatia.
In December 2023, an attack by a student at a university in central Prague left 14 people dead and 25 injured.
A few months earlier, a 13-year-old gunned down nine fellow classmates and a security guard at an elementary school in Belgrade.
