President Barack Obama struck out with Turkey earlier this week after the White House released a photo showing the US leader holding a baseball bat while talking on the phone with the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The two leaders spoke to discuss the crisis in Syria.
After the conversation, the White House released the image of Obama seated at his desk, having a phone conversation with Erdogan while holding a bat autographed by baseball great Hank Aaron, was released by the White House.
When asked about possible hidden meanings in the photo, White House secretary Jay Carney said that the President was an avid baseball fan and long-time supporter of the Chicago White Sox.
"We released the photo with only one purpose in mind, to highlight the President's continuing close relationship with Prime Minister Erdogan and draw attention to the important conversation they had about the worsening situation in Syria," Caitlin Hayden, a spokesperson for the White House, said.
But the picture, which was interpreted as vaguely menacing by some critics, caused a stir in Turkey.
‘The photo reveals from whom our Prime Minister receives orders to rule the country,’ said Metin Lutfi Baydar, a lawmaker with Turkey's main opposition party the Republican People's Party (CHP), said in a statement.
Some newspapers took a more light-hearted approach to the diplomatic snafu, with columnist Ahmet Hakan of daily Hurriyet writing: ‘We need to do something - retaliation seems to be the most reasonable method.’
"Our Prime Minister needs to hold something in his hand as he's calling Obama," he added, suggesting as possible candidates a slipper, a belt or a rolling pin.

EJP