Washington (CNN) First we were all Americans. Then we were all Charlie Hebdo. Now we're all blonde.

At least, that's the newest form of solidarity being espoused by U.S. Ambassador to Turkey John Bass, who posted a photo of himself with lightened hair Thursday after a Turkish official tweeted a picture that called a State Department spokeswoman a "dumb blonde."

Acting Spokeswoman Marie Harf had been targeted in a series of vitriolic tweets Wednesday by the outspoken mayor of Ankara, Melih Gokcek, who blasted Harf in terms many view as sexist during a rant about the Obama administration's handling of the Baltimore protests.

In one of several tweets, he posted a screengrab from a Turkish online publication that included a picture of Harf and text that read "You were saying the Turkish police is using disproportionate force; where are you now, dumb blonde?"

HADİ SARIŞIN CEVAP VERSENE... COME ON BLONDE ANSWER NOW... pic.twitter.com/gTeftDEWdg — İbrahim Melih Gökçek (@06melihgokcek) April 29, 2015

In turn, Bass posted a picture of himself on Instagram with his hair digitally altered to appear blond. The picture was accompanied by the caption "#American diplomats: we're all blonde" in both English and Turkish.

#ABD'li diplomatlar: hepimiz #sarışınız. #American diplomats: we're all blonde. A photo posted by John Bass (@amerikanbuyukelcisi) on Apr 30, 2015 at 10:09am PDT