Nurmantyo was denied entry into the United States on Saturday although he was to visit that country at the invitation of its Joint Forces Chief of Staff General Joseph Dunford.
"We want to know why such a big country like the United States has such a (lack of) coordination. If the United States does not allow Nurmantyo to enter the country, it should not have invited him or should have canceled the invitation," Almasyhari said here on Monday.
Almasyhari, who is a Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician, stated that he acknowledged that the authority to grant entry permit into the United States had no direct connection with the Armed Forces.
However, there should have been coordination, because the TNI commander planned to visit the United States at the invitation of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States Armed Forces.
"It is the authority of each country to refuse or accept someone into its territory, but the problem is that it happened to a TNI Commander who was being informed about it at the last moment," he revealed.
Previously, the TNI Commander was invited to attend the Chiefs of Defense Conference on Country Violent Extremist Organization" (VEOs) to be held from Oct 23 to 24 in Washington DC.
Head of the TNI Information Center Major General Wuryanto explained that the TNI Commander, his wife, and the delegation had arranged for visas and other administrative steps to prepare for departure.
" On Saturday, the TNI Commander was ready to depart through Emirates airline, but shortly before departure, there was a notice from the airline that Nurmantyo and the delegation may be denied entry into the US territory by US Custom and Border Protection," Wuryanto explained.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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