U.S. deeply disturbed by arrest of local employee in Turkey

ANKARA (Reuters) - The U.S. government is "deeply disturbed" by the arrest of a locally employed staff member of the U.S. consulate general in Istanbul, an embassy statement said on Thursday. Turkish authorities arrested the consulate employee over his alleged links to a movement led by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Turkey accuses of leading a coup attempt last year, Turkey's state-owned Anadolu news agency reported. The U.S. embassy in Ankara said the accusations against the employee were "wholly without merit" and that "baseless, anonymous allegations" against employees of the U.S. mission undermine and devalue relations between the two countries. (Reporting by David Dolan; Writing by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Dominic Evans)