Perry made the statement during a spirited debated between Republican presidential candidates in South Carolina Monday night.
Most of Turkey was fast asleep during the live broadcast, and Turkish newspapers had already gone to print by the time Perry declared that Turkey had moved "far away from the country I lived in back in the 1970s United States Air Force. That was our ally that worked with us, but today we don't see that."
The Texas governor also argued that it was time for Washington to cut foreign aid to Ankara.
A spokesman for Turkey's foreign ministry fired back Tuesday, accusing Perry of making "baseless and improper claims."
In a statement e-mailed to CNN, Selcuk Unal said presidential candidates should "be more informed about the world and be more careful their statements." Read on and comment » | Ivan Watson and Yesim Comert | Tuesday, January 17, 2012
