Gunfire Outside U.S. Embassy in Ankara
ANKARA (Dispatches) -- Amid tense relations between Ankara and Washington, several gunshots were fired Monday from a vehicle at the U.S. Embassy in the Turkish capital, causing no casualties.
The early morning attack coincided with a deepening row between the two countries over the trial of a U.S. pastor in Turkey.
An unidentified assailant or assailants fired six bullets at an embassy security gate from a passing white vehicle around 530 a.m. local time, three bullets hitting an iron door and a window, the Ankara governor's office said in a statement.
The embassy is closed this week for a public holiday to mark the Islamic Eid al-Adha festival.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman condemned the attack on Twitter and said the incident is being investigated. "This is a clear attempt to create chaos," spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said. "Turkey is a safe country and all foreign missions are under the guarantee of the laws."
The U.S. Embassy in Ankara and the consulate in Istanbul have in the past been the targets of attacks by militants and have faced numerous security threats.
Turkey has lodged a complaint against additional US duties on steel and aluminum at the World Trade Organization, the international trade court said Monday.
U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this month announced on Twitter that he had doubled steel and aluminum tariffs on Turkey amid a row over an American pastor held for two years on terror charges.
Erdogan appealed to Turks’ religious and patriotic feelings ahead of a major Muslim holiday, promising they would not be brought "to their knees” by an economic crisis that has battered the lira currency.
"The attack on our economy has absolutely no difference from attacks on our call to prayer and our flag. The goal is the same. The goal is to bring Turkey and the Turkish people to their knees - to take it prisoner,” Erdogan said in the televised address.
"Those who think they can make Turkey give in with the exchange rate will soon see that they are mistaken.”
Much of the recent tension has centered around a U.S. evangelical Christian pastor, Andrew Brunson, who has been detained in Turkey on terrorism charges.
On Friday, a Turkish court rejected Brunson’s appeal for release, drawing a stiff rebuke from Trump, who said the United States would not take the detention of the pastor "sitting down”.
In response to Brunson’s case, Trump - who counts evangelical Christians among his core supporters - has said he would double previously announced tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum imports.
The German finance minister said on Monday the Turkish currency crisis posed an additional risk to Germany’s economy.
However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told her Christian Democrats at a meeting that she saw no urgent need to offer financial aid to Turkey to ease the crisis, the party’s general secretary said.
The early morning attack coincided with a deepening row between the two countries over the trial of a U.S. pastor in Turkey.
An unidentified assailant or assailants fired six bullets at an embassy security gate from a passing white vehicle around 530 a.m. local time, three bullets hitting an iron door and a window, the Ankara governor's office said in a statement.
The embassy is closed this week for a public holiday to mark the Islamic Eid al-Adha festival.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman condemned the attack on Twitter and said the incident is being investigated. "This is a clear attempt to create chaos," spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said. "Turkey is a safe country and all foreign missions are under the guarantee of the laws."
The U.S. Embassy in Ankara and the consulate in Istanbul have in the past been the targets of attacks by militants and have faced numerous security threats.
Turkey has lodged a complaint against additional US duties on steel and aluminum at the World Trade Organization, the international trade court said Monday.
U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this month announced on Twitter that he had doubled steel and aluminum tariffs on Turkey amid a row over an American pastor held for two years on terror charges.
Erdogan appealed to Turks’ religious and patriotic feelings ahead of a major Muslim holiday, promising they would not be brought "to their knees” by an economic crisis that has battered the lira currency.
"The attack on our economy has absolutely no difference from attacks on our call to prayer and our flag. The goal is the same. The goal is to bring Turkey and the Turkish people to their knees - to take it prisoner,” Erdogan said in the televised address.
"Those who think they can make Turkey give in with the exchange rate will soon see that they are mistaken.”
Much of the recent tension has centered around a U.S. evangelical Christian pastor, Andrew Brunson, who has been detained in Turkey on terrorism charges.
On Friday, a Turkish court rejected Brunson’s appeal for release, drawing a stiff rebuke from Trump, who said the United States would not take the detention of the pastor "sitting down”.
In response to Brunson’s case, Trump - who counts evangelical Christians among his core supporters - has said he would double previously announced tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum imports.
The German finance minister said on Monday the Turkish currency crisis posed an additional risk to Germany’s economy.
However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told her Christian Democrats at a meeting that she saw no urgent need to offer financial aid to Turkey to ease the crisis, the party’s general secretary said.