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U.S. Ambassador to Turkey John Bass is criticizing the arrest of a local U.S. Consulate employee in Istanbul, saying it was motivated by "revenge rather than justice" on the part of elements within the Turkish government, the Voice of America reports.

Bass made his comments Friday in the case of Metin Topuz, who was taken into custody Wednesday on terrorism charges.

"There is a big difference between pursuing justice and pursuing vengeance in terms of the rule of law and the democratic norms that this country, and my country, have committed themselves to, both through the Helsinki Charter and their own constitutions," Bass said at a meeting of Turkish reporters.

Turkey's semi-official Anadolu news agency, citing security sources, reports that Topuz was in regular communication with alleged leading members of a terrorist network blamed for last year's failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The same media report says Topuz also faces charges of espionage and attempting to overthrow the constitutional order.

Ambassador Bass took aim at the use of the media in Topuz’s detention.

"I am deeply disturbed that some people in the Turkish government prefer to try this case through media outlets rather than properly pursuing the case in a court of law before a judge. That does not strike me as pursuing justice; it seems to me more a pursuit of vengeance," he said.

The U.S. ambassador, who is due to leave his post in Ankara for a new assignment in Afghanistan, also pushed back against the Turkish Foreign Ministry, saying Topuz was a staff member.

On Tuesday, the ministry issued a statement saying, "He [Topuz] is neither a staffer of the U.S. Consulate nor does he have any diplomatic or consular immunity."

U.S.-Turkish tensions have been on the rise over Washington's support of the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG in its fight against Islamic State. Ankara deems the YPG as terrorists.

But those tensions continue to be exacerbated over the ongoing fallout concerning last year’s coup attempt.