Talks over visa row with US moving in good direction, says Ibrahim Kalin

Turkey's Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Wednesday the talks with the United States over a diplomatic row were now moving in a "good direction."

"I believe this crisis will be resolved soon," he told state-owned TRT Haber.

Earlier this month Washington suspended visa services after Turkey detained two Turkish nationals employed as US consular staff on suspicion of having links to an outlawed network accused of orchestrating a failed coup last year.

Ankara swiftly retaliated by suspending its own visa services in the United States, marking a new low in relations between the two NATO allies. Washington has rejected Ankara’s allegations.

A US delegation arrived in Turkey on Wednesday for talks on repairing bilateral ties on Thursday. 

"The US delegation does not have the authority to lift the visa suspension but they will communicate our views to Washington and, hopefully, the White House will take positive steps soon," Kalin said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Ankara will not submit to "impositions" from the United States to resolve a feud.

The US delegation has laid out four conditions to solve the crisis, private broadcaster Haberturk reported, including a request that Ankara provide evidence related to the detentions.

"We will cooperate if their demands meet the rules of our constitution but we will not succumb to impositions and we will reject any conditions that we cannot meet," Cavusoglu told a news conference.

Gulen links

The locally-hired employee of the US consulate in Istanbul who was arrested earlier this month on charges of links to Fetullah Gulen, the alleged orchestrator of last year’s coup attempt, was identified by Turkey’s Anadolu Agency as Metin Topuz.

He is accused of “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order and Turkey’s government,” and “spying,” a judicial source said.

His alleged links included police commissioners and fugitive former public prosecutor Zekeriya Oz, who had been accused of "forming an organisation to commit crime" and "attempting to overthrow the government by use of force."

Gulen, who has been living in self-exile in the US since 1999, stands accused of heading a network dubbed by the Turkish authorities as the Fetullah Terrorist Organisation (FETO), which allegedly orchestrated last year’s coup. Gulen denies the accusations against him.

The putsch attempt killed 250 people and left nearly 2,200 injured.  

The US has thus far failed to extradite Gulen despite numerous request by Turkey, saying Ankara had not provided enough evidence to Washington. 

However, Turkish authorities said they sent 84 boxes of documents with evidence linking FETO to the July 15 coup attempt.

On Tuesday, the Turkish parliament approved a three-month extension to a state of emergency that has been in place since July 20 last year.

Since the coup attempt, Turkish authorities have been working to identify suspects connected to FETO who have infiltrated state institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.