Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek has taken aim at the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey John Bass calling on him to return home over the latter’s criticism of the crackdown on more than 1,100 academics in Turkey, Today’s Zaman reports.

“You are trying to make an enemy [of Turkey]. At least you should learn to be quiet. Please don't poison Turkish and American relations… Mr. Bass you're a wrong choice for the U.S. in Turkey. I would say for you to return to your country. Let a new U.S. envoy, who knows about us, be sent here,” wrote Gökçek in a series of tweets on Friday, January 15.

Bass expressed concern on Friday over legal and disciplinary actions taken against more than 1,189 Turkish academics who published a statement on Monday criticizing the government's policies in the Southeast and calling for peace.

The academics have been subjected to a crackdown following President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's statement on Tuesday that they “must be punished.” Twelve academics from Kocaeli University who signed the declaration were detained on the orders of the Kocaeli Chief Prosecutor's Office, while detention warrants were issued for five other academics from the university.