Turkey urges US to review visa suspension as lira, stocks tumble

ANKARA – Turkey urged the United States on Monday to review its suspension of visa services after the arrest of a US consulate employee sharply escalated tensions between the two NATO allies and drove Turkey's currency and stocks lower.

Relations between Ankara and Washington have been plagued by disputes over US support for Kurdish fighters in Syria, Turkey's calls for the extradition of a US-based cleric and the indictment of a Turkish former minister in a US court.

But last week's arrest of a Turkish employee of the US consulate in Istanbul marked a fresh low. Turkey said the employee had links to US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed by Ankara for a failed military coup in July 2016.

The US embassy in Ankara condemned those charges as baseless and announced on Sunday night it was halting all non-immigrant visa services in Turkey while it reassessed Turkey's commitment to the security of its missions and staff.