Tourists paying price for the US-Turkey visa and travel rules

The growing tension between the US and Turkey has deteriorated further as both the countries are abruptly imposing sweeping new travel restrictions against the other’s citizens.

This slow but steady decline in the US-Turkey relationship will spoil the alliance between Washington and Ankara and might create a historic crisis which will make thing difficult to resolve. The “deep trust deficit in the bilateral ties” is what might make the things go off the wheels.

According to the new restrictions, the Turkish tourists, students, diplomats, journalists, and businesspeople will be barred from getting the paperwork needed to visit the US. Following the announcement, Turkey, within a span of couple of hours declared almost a mirrored ban for the US travellers.

The US and Turkey are NATO allies however there have been several clashes in the last years specially after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan jailed dozens of US citizens or their alleged ties to a failed coup attempt against him last year.

In announcing the move, the US diplomatic mission in Turkey said “recent events” have forced the US to “reassess the commitment” of Turkey to the safety of its staff. In the suspension announcement of Turkey, they refered to freezing electronic visas and visas bought at the border, which is the way most tourists and short-term visitors enter Turkey.

According to the travel analysts, the visa fight might take a big blow to the Turkey tourism; tens of thousands of US nationals have visited Turkey annually in recent years.