WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. State Department said Tuesday that the decision of the U.S. Embassy in Turkey to suspend non-immigrant visa services was a coordinated move, not a "unilateral" decision.
"Our ambassadors tend to not do things unilaterally," said U.S. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert here at a briefing.
"This was coordinated with the State Department. It was coordinated with the White House and coordinated with the embassy," said Nauert.
The United States and Turkey on Sunday indefinitely halted all non-immigrant visa services for each other's citizens amid deepening differences between the two North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies.
The U.S. Embassy in Ankara made the first move by releasing a statement saying that "recent events have forced the United States Government to reassess the commitment of the Turkish Government to the security of U.S. diplomatic facilities and personnel."
The Turkish Embassy in Washington retaliated immediately by issuing a similar statement that mirrored the one by the United States.
The spat between the two countries was ignited by the recent arrest of Metin Topuz, a U.S. consulate worker in Istanbul who was accused of suspected links to Fethullah Gulen, who is a Pennsylvania-based cleric blacklisted by Ankara for orchestrating last year's failed coup in Turkey.
Ankara has repeatedly demanded the extradition of Gulen, while the requests were rejected by Washington as the latter asked for more evidence.
