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Turkey's foreign minister Mevlut Çavuşoglu rejected an offer to meet U.S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Istanbul for what Çavuşoglu considered disrespectful behaviour from his American counterpart, according to Bloomberg News, Ahval new reported.

On Tuesday, the State Department announced that Secretary Pompeo would be embarking on a ten day trip across Europe and the Middle East. Included was a stop in Istanbul where Pompeo would meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world’s Greek Orthodox Christians to discuss religious freedom worldwide.

There was no mention in the trip's announcement of any meetings with Çavuşoglu or Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish foreign ministry took umbrage with Pompeo's stated reason for visiting and slammed it as hypocritical, pointing to the summer of protests against police brutality in U.S cities.

However, it was revealed that Pompeo invited Çavuşoglu to meet with him in Istanbul after declining to visit Ankara. A Turkish source for Bloomberg told the outlet that Çavuşoglu was offended by Pompeo's attitude.

A U.S official told reporters that Pompeo meant no offense in not meeting with senior Turkish officials and attributed it to a "scheduling error".

Pompeo had spoken out against converting the Hagia Sophia, once a cathedral constructed during the Byzantine era, from a museum into a mosque over the summer. The site holds particular spiritual importance for Orthodox Christians worldwide and Erdogan's decision was criticised by other nations including Greece and Russia, both home to large Orthodox communities.