An 'open provocation'

• The attack on US Embassy was a clear attempt to 'create chaos': Erdogan 

• US rejects Turkey's offer to release pastor: report

Gunshots were fired early yesterday at the US embassy in Ankara but caused no casualties, Turkish and American officials said, amid escalating tensions between the two Nato allies.

Six shots were fired at the US embassy, the Ankara governor's office said, adding that three bullets hit the iron gate and window wall.

"There are no casualties," it said. US embassy spokesman David Gainer confirmed to AFP that a "security incident" had taken place.

"We have no reports of any injuries and we are investigating the details. We thank the Turkish National Police for their rapid response," he said.

The spokesman for President Tayyip Erdogan said the attack on the US Embassy was a clear attempt to "create chaos", reported Reuters.

A bullet mark was clearly visible on a security booth at the embassy, an AFP journalist at the scene reported.

Omer Celik, spokesman for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), called the incident an "open provocation," without elaborating further.

The incident come as Ankara and Washington are locked in a bitter dispute over Turkey's detention of an American pastor on terror-related charges.

US President Donald Trump has doubled the tariffs on aluminium and steel tariffs from Turkey, prompting Ankara to sharply hike tariffs on several US products.

On Friday, Turkey threatened to respond in kind if Washington imposed further sanctions, while a court rejected last week another appeal to free pastor Andrew Brunson.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump's administration has rejected Turkey's offer to condition the release of the pastor on clearing a top Turkish bank of billions of dollars in US fines, media reported yesterday.

In exchange for Brunson's release, and that of other US citizens as well as three Turkish nationals working for the US government, Turkey asked Washington to drop a probe into Halkbank, which is facing possible fines for helping Iran evade US sanctions.

But the US said that discussions regarding the fines and other areas of dispute between the two countries were off the table until Brunson was released, a White House official told the Wall Street Journal.

"A real Nato ally wouldn't have arrested Brunson in the first place," the unnamed official said.