The leader of the Turkish nationalists Devlet Bahceli called obscene the hoisting of a disproportionately large American flag compared to the Turkish one on a US destroyer anchored in the Bosphorus Strait.
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The Turkish public considered the photo of US Ambassador Jeffrey Flake on the deck of the US Navy destroyer in the Bosphorus Strait as a “threatening signal” and called for the diplomat to be summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, the Aydınlık newspaper reported earlier. The USS Nitze, a USS Navy warship that also took part in the Yemeni civil war, had previously anchored off the coast of Dolmabahce. The photo of the ambassador on the deck of the ship was posted by the American Embassy in Turkey on its Twitter. Turkish experts also drew attention to the fact that the Turkish flag on the destroyer’s mast is much smaller than the American flag, calling it a “show of force” on the part of the United States.
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“It is disrespectful for the United States to raise a disproportionately large flag on a warship anchored in the Bosphorus, in violation of international customs. Flying a small Turkish flag next to a large American flag on this warship is obscene and illegal,” Bahceli said.
