Turkey seeks another U.S. consulate employee for questioning

Turkish government have summoned an employee working at the American consulate, days after the arrest of another staffer at the mission sparked a crisis in relations
Monday, 09 October 2017 21:08

Turkish authorities summoned a U.S. consulate employee to testify on Monday over his relatives' alleged links to the network of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, days after the arrest of another consulate worker.

Turkey has pressed Washington for the extradition of Gülen, who was one of the masterminds of the last year's unsuccessful coup bid against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

State-run Anadolu news agency said the suspect was wanted for questioning after his wife and daughter were detained in the Black Sea city of Amasya. The two were later brought to İstanbul for legal procedures. The employee's wife allegedly invested money into Bank Asya, which was owned by the network of Gülen. Bank Asya has since been put into state administration.

"U.S. consulate worker N.M.C., husband and father of the suspects in question, has no diplomatic immunity and has been called to the prosecutor's office to testify," İstanbul prosecutor's office said in a press statement.

Turkish media reported that the individual wanted by prosecutors is currently taking sanctuary inside the İstanbul consulate of the United States. This was not confirmed by the state media reports.

On Sunday, the U.S. mission in Turkey and the Turkish mission in Washington halted visa services after Metin Topuz, a U.S. consulate employee, was arrested in Turkey last week. 

The prosecutor's office said that testimony from Topuz pointed to the two suspects detained in Amasya being high-ranking members of Gülen's network. In March this year, another Turkish employee at the US consulate in the southern city of Adana was charged with supporting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).