TURKEY
The Pastor and the Cleric
The US State Department sanctioned two senior Turkish government officials over the detention of an American pastor, marking the continuing deterioration of relations between the two NATO allies.
“At the president’s direction, the Department of Treasury is sanctioning Turkey’s minister of justice and minister of interior” over the continued detention of evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at Wednesday’s briefing.
Brunson was arrested by Turkey’s government in October 2016 on charges of aiding a terrorist organization and for espionage. Some analysts believe Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is using his detention as leverage to compel Washington to extradite Fethullah Gülen, a Pennsylvania-based Muslim cleric whom the Turkish leader alleges was behind a 2016 coup attempt in Turkey.
Analysts believe sanctions against a NATO ally represent “a very significant step,” according to Politico, and are likely to invite some kind of retaliation from Erdogan – who also resents the US alliance with Kurdish fighters in Syria.
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