国际英语新闻:Turkey suspends non-immigrant visa services in U.S. as retaliation

ANKARA, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Turkey has suspended all non-immigrant visa services at its diplomatic facilities in the U.S., the Turkish Embassy in Washington announced late Sunday.

"Recent events have forced Turkish Government to reassess the commitment of the Government of the United States to the security of Turkish Mission facilities and personnel," the Embassy said in a statement issued on its Twitter account.

"In order to minimize the number of visitors to our Embassy and Consulates while this assessment proceeds, effective immediately we have suspended all non-immigrant visa services at all Turkish diplomatic facilities in the U.S.," read the statement.

Ankara's response came hours after the U.S. Embassy in Ankara announced that it had suspended all non-immigrant visa services at its diplomatic facilities in Turkey.

The ties between two NATO allies soured amid the arrest of Istanbul Consulate local employee Metin Topuz on Wednesday over espionage charges and alleged links with the group of U.S.-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, who is blamed for the July 15, 2016 coup attempt.

The U.S. Embassy in Turkey has slammed the arrest on Thursday, saying that allegations of the employee were "baseless" and Washington "is deeply disturbed by the arrest."