For Immediate Release
June 15, 2020
Contact: Director of Communications Ásgeir Sigfússon, sigfusson@afsa.org

Washington, D.C. – Ambassador Eric Rubin, President of the American Foreign Service Association, issued the following statement today:

“I share Secretary Pompeo’s concern over the conviction of U.S. Consulate General Istanbul locally employed staff member Metin Topuz. AFSA joins the entire Foreign Service community in hoping that this conviction will be overturned quickly.”

“AFSA stands in support of our tens of thousands of locally employed staff members, without whom the daily business of American diplomacy would be impossible. Their contributions are myriad, and they make our foreign policy and global engagement stronger and more successful.”

AFSA, the voice of the Foreign Service, is the professional association and labor union of the U.S. Foreign Service. Founded in 1924, AFSA represents 31,000 active and retired Foreign Service employees at the Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development, Foreign Commercial Service, Foreign Agricultural Service, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.