A senior Turkish diplomat is to lead a delegation to Washington for talks in the next days, state media said on Tuesday, as Ankara seeks to defuse a crisis with the United States that has pushed the lira to record lows.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal will travel to Washington for the talks, the state-run Anadolu news agency said. NTV television said he would be joined by officials from the justice and energy ministries.

The NATO allies have slapped reciprocal sanctions on two senior officials on both sides in the row over the detention in Turkey for almost two years of pastor Andrew Brunson.

The row is seen by analysts as one of the most severe between Turkey and the United States since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 and comes on top of a host of other issues causing strain.

The tensions have pushed the already battered Turkish lira to new record lows, with the currency crashing some five percent against the dollar on Monday.

The lira has lost 15 percent against the dollar in the last month alone.

Source: AFP