Erdogan blames US for sacrificing ties

Ankara: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday said the US was in danger of “sacrificing” its relations with Turkey, as he blamed the American envoy to Ankara for the crisis in relations between the Nato allies. “It is the ambassador here who caused this,” Erdogan told a meeting in Ankara, referring to the outgoing US envoy in Turkey, John Bass. “It is unacceptable for the United States to sacrifice its strategic partner like Turkey for a presumptuous ambassador,” he said. The dispute erupted last week when Turkey arrested a Turkish employee of the US consulate in Istanbul on suspicion of links to Fethullah Gulen, a USbased Muslim preacher who Ankara blames for last year’s failed coup.