"In a time where xenophobic statements and attacks are on the rise, these remarks will harm our efforts to help Turkish people participate in the social life of the country they reside," Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said, as quoted by the Daily Sabah newspaper on Tuesday.
He added that the remarks made were "inappropriate" for a prime minister, as he generalized an isolated incident, which was not a regular thing.
On July 15, the Turkish authorities said that an attempted coup was taking place in the country, which was suppressed the following day. Following the coup, thousands of people, mostly officials, legal and educational workers, were detained or dismissed, commonly over alleged ties to suspected mastermind of the coup attempt, Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen.