Turkey's US embassy hits out at CNN for irrelevant photos

The Turkish Embassy here criticized the CNN International network for "deliberately" using irrelevant Istanbul photographs on U.S.-related coronavirus developments.

"It is deplorable that @CNN deliberately and insistently publishes photos from Istanbul in its coverage on #Covid_19 developments in US," the embassy said on Twitter.

"@CNN has to explain to its readers the logic of using a picture of a mosque in Istanbul in news concerning visits to #Congress or CA prisons," it wrote, referring to the U.S. state of California.

The New York Times also sparked outrage for its misleading use of photographs in reporting a travel restriction due to the outbreak.

The U.S. announced Wednesday it was suspending travel from Europe in an effort to stem the pandemic. The restrictions include EU and Schengen region countries, but does not include Turkey -- a nation that has to date only one confirmed case of the virus.

The newspaper's coverage, however, featured two pictures of Istanbul -- Turkey's tourism and commercial capital.

The virus originated in Wuhan, China last December and has since spread to more than 100 countries.

After months of successful containment of COVID-19, Turkey has only a single case on the virus.

Ankara's health minister announced Wednesday that the male patient, who recently returned from Europe, and his family are in good condition but still under quarantine.

The global death toll has exceed 4,900, with more than 134,000 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization that declared the outbreak "a pandemic."