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Turkey sentences three men for shooting at US Embassy last year

A car passes by a security booth with a bullet hole in a window, at the entrance of the US Embassy, in Ankara, on August 20, 2018. Gunshots were fired early on Augsut 20, 2018 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. 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. / AFP PHOTO / STR

A Turkish court sentenced three men to prison on Thursday for shooting at the US Embassy in Ankara last year, AFP reported.

They were handed down sentences ranging from just over three years to more than 10 years for “membership in a terrorist organization” and “actions aimed at sabotaging relations with a foreign country,” according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.

The US Embassy was fired on from a car on Aug. 20, 2018, without any casualties.

One of the men told the court he carried out “this stupid action” due to “patriotism” and alcohol.

“Whatever decision you take, long live the state,” he said, according to Anadolu.

At the time the government described the shooting as an attempt to “sow chaos” at a moment when relations between Turkey and the United States were deeply strained.

Washington had recently imposed sanctions against Turkey in response to its detention of an American pastor, who was later freed.

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