Mubasher: The president of Turkey has attacked the American ambassador to his country, accusing him of evoking a diplomatic crisis between the two countries, saying that he is no longer considered an envoy of the United States.

Recceb Tayyip Erdogan added in a press conference in Belgrade on Tuesday that ambassador John Bass has acted unilaterally in suspending visa services in Turkey, after the arrest of a US consulate worker, as reported by Reuters.

On Sunday, the United States Embassy in Ankara suspended visa services, while it assessed Turkey’s commitment to the safety of its missions and its staff.

“An ambassador in Ankara taking decisions and saying he is doing so in the name of his government is strange. If our ambassador did this, we wouldn’t keep him there even a minute,” the news agency quoted the Turkish president.

The Turkish embassy in Washington responded with also suspending travel visas for all Americans travelling to Turkey, which led to noticeable declined for both the Turkish lira and stock market.

The US embassy negated any ties between the arrested Turkish employee who was working in the American consulate in Istanbul and the Fethullah Gülen movement.