U.S. DIPLOMAT SUMMONED OVER TWITTER DISPUTE

ISTANBUL Turkey summoned a top U.S. diplomat to its foreign ministry on Sunday, a day after the U.S. Embassy’s Twitter account liked a tweet regarding Devlet Bahceli, pictured, the leader of the nationalist party who has recently fallen ill.

The tweet said Turkey should be ready for a political realm without Bahceli, who has had health issues in recent weeks, which led to speculation regarding the seriousness of his condition.

The dispute comes at a time when relations between the NATO allies are strained due to Turkey’s threats of an incursion into northeastern Syria, after Ankara accused Washington of stalling efforts to establish a “safe zone” there together.

Bahceli is the leader of Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which is an ally of President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party.

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said it had summoned the U.S. Charge d’Affaires to the ministry and requested an “open and clear” explanation regarding the issue.

The U.S. Embassy posted two apologies on Twitter, one late on Saturday and another on Sunday, after the Charge d’Affaires was summoned.

Omer Celik, spokesman for the AK Party, said earlier on Sunday that the U.S. State Department and Embassy needed to investigate the issue and an apology would not suffice.