ANKARA, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Turkey-U.S. strains have been eased to some degree with resumption of visa services on a limited basis, a sign of warming up bilateral ties ahead of Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim's visit to Washington.
The U.S decision on visa services came as a show of good faith ahead of Yildirim's visit, which aims at repairing ties between the two nations, indicated the Turkish press on Tuesday.
"We observe that our efforts have yielded positive results. We are advancing towards a solution," sources from the Turkish Foreign Ministry told reporters on Monday.
The step to suspend visa services in Turkey came after the arrest of Metin Topuz, a long standing local employee at the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul on terror charges and over alleged links to followers of U.S.-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen.
Turkey retaliated against the move in kind, stopping issuing visas to the U.S. nationals and the bilateral relations had hit a all-time low amid a deep feeling of resentment of Turks against the former "traditional ally."
The U.S. Embassy in Ankara released a statement on the re-opening of limited visa services, confirming that it has "received assurances" from the Turkish government on future investigations.
"Based on these preliminary assurances, we believe the security posture has improved sufficiently to allow for the resumption of the limited visa services in Turkey, the statement read.
"We continue to have serious concerns about the existing cases against U.S. citizens who have been arrested under the state of emergency. The U.S. officials will continue to engage with their Turkish counterparts to seek a satisfactory resolution of these cases," it added.
"It is certainly a positive move. The refusal to issue visa to Turkish citizens was in fact a very harsh and severe decision and has harmed even further strained ties," Bora Bayraktar, professor of international relations at the Istanbul Kultur University, told Xinhua.
However he also stressed that even though the visa tension seems to near some kind of a settlement, other differences remain and no agreement on those issues are on sight in the near future.
"There are serious divergences between the two countries on several fields like Syria or the role played by Gulen followers in the coup plot, and also not to forget the extradition of Gulen himself. So we are really not out of the woods yet," said Bayraktar.
Ahead of Yildirim's visit, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson held two separate phone calls on Friday and Sunday, discussing the agenda of Yildirim's meeting with Vice President Michael Pence planned for Wednesday, and trying to narrow differences.
Turkish Prime Minister accompanied by several ministers will visit Washington from Tuesday until Friday.
At the top of Yildirim's grievances list is the support given by the U.S to the Syrian Kurdish fighters of the People's Protection Units (PYD), seen by Washington as a partner in the fight against the Islamic State (IS).
The Turkish government considers this movement as an offshoot of the Turkish Kurdish rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a designated terrorist organization by Ankara, EU and the United States.
Ankara wants Gulen, who is residing in Pennsylvania since 1999, to be extradited or at least to be the subject of a criminal legal action.
Among the pile of tensions between the two countries there is also the case of an American evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson, who is currently incarcerated for alleged links with the Gulen network.
The U.S. has condemned the arrests of Americans in Turkey judging that it is a part to apply pressure on Washington to extradite Gulen.
Also there are arrest warrants against 13 Turks in the U.S, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's bodyguards over their brawl with protestors in front of the Turkish Ambassador's residence in Washington during Erdogan's visit in May.
Turkish official sources told Xinhua that Yildirim and his economy team will also address investors in New York to promote investment opportunities in Turkey.
The Turkish currency has traded nervously and declined in the past weeks against the dollar and the euro and the Ankara wants to energize the economy, the sources said.
"The Prime Minister's Washington visit is really crucial on the future of the bilateral relations. It is possible that these relations can be partially repaired after this visit," Deniz Zeyrek, political commentator and journalist at Hurriyet daily, told Xinhua.
