A deadly attack on Turkish police outside the US consulate in Istanbul Wednesday was "an obvious act of terrorism" aimed at the United States, the country's ambassador to Turkey said.
"It's an obvious act of terrorism," US Ambassador Ross Wilson told reporters here.
"This was an attack on an American diplomatic establishment. The persons who lost their lives are Turkish citizens and we are very sad about that," he said.
Three Turkish policemen and the three assailants were killed in the attack outside the high-walled building in Istanbul's upscale district of Istinye.
Wilson said security measures were beefed up at the consulate as well as at the US embassy in Ankara and the consulate in the southern city of Adana, near which a major Turkish air base is often used by US aircraft.
"We remain a close friend and ally of Turkey. We'll not be deterred in any way by terrorists who are seeking to strike at us or at US-Turkish relations," the ambassador said.
"Our countries stand together in the fight against international terrorism.... We will confront this as we have confronted similar problems in the past," he added.
All US consulate staff in Istanbul were safe and accounted for, he said.
