Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Western missions would "pay" for issuing security warnings and temporarily closing consulates in Türkiye last week, while police said there was no serious threat to foreigners after detaining 15 Islamic State (ISIS) suspects on Sunday.

Ankara summoned the ambassadors of nine countries on February 2 to criticize their decisions to temporarily shut diplomatic missions and issue security alerts. Turkish officials said the following day that Western nations, including the United States and Germany, had not shared information to back up their claims of a security threat.

"The other day our foreign ministry summoned all of them and gave the necessary ultimatum, told them 'You will pay for this heavily if you keep this up,'" Erdogan said during a meeting with youth that was pre-recorded and broadcast on Sunday.

The closures follow angry protests in Türkiye and elsewhere in the Muslim world after a copy of the Koran was set alight by a right-wing nationalist in Stockholm. The U.S. embassy said "possible imminent retaliatory attacks by terrorists" could take place in popular areas like the city's historic Beyoglu, Galata and Taksim neighborhoods.

Warnings have also been issued about possible threats to non-Muslim places of worship. 

Earlier on Sunday, police said they had not found evidence of any concrete threat to foreigners in the detentions of 15 Islamic State (ISIS) suspects accused of targeting consulates and non-Muslim houses of worship, state media reported.

Anadolu Agency cited an Istanbul police statement saying the suspects had "received instructions for acts targeting consulates of Sweden and the Netherlands, as well as Christian and Jewish places of worship."

While the suspects' ties to the jihadist group were confirmed, no concrete threats toward foreigners were found, the statement said.

Last month, far-right activists burned copies of the Muslim holy book, the Koran, in Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands, acts that prompted Türkiye to suspend negotiations meant to lift its objections to Sweden and Finland joining NATO.

All 30 NATO members must approve newcomers. Sweden and Finland applied for membership last year in the face of Russia-Ukraine conflict, but ran into surprise resistance from Türkiye. Since then they have sought to win its backing including agreeing to take a harder line domestically against those Türkiye says are members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), designated a terrorist group by Ankara and the European Union.

Erdogan said that the Western states were "playing for (more) time" and that the "necessary decisions" would be taken during Monday's cabinet meeting, without elaborating.

(With input from agencies)

(Cover:  Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech at Adnan Menderes University in Aydin, Türkiye, February 5, 2023. /CFP)

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