WASHINGTON -- The U.S. will impose sanctions on two Turkish officials over a detained American pastor who is being tried on espionage and terror-related charges, the White House announced Wednesday.
President Donald Trump warned last week that he might impose sanctions against Turkey, a key NATO ally, for its treatment of Andrew Craig Brunson in a case that has strained U.S.-Turkish relations. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said his government won't back down and was willing to "go its own way" if the U.S. imposes sanctions.
White House spokesman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the sanctions would target Turkey's justice and interior ministers, whose agencies she said were responsible for the pastor's arrest and detention.
"We've seen no evidence that Pastor Brunson has done anything wrong, and we believe he is a victim of unfair and unjust attention by the government of Turkey," Sanders said.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Turkish government refused to release Brunson "after numerous conversations between President Trump and President Erdogan," along with his conversations with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavosuglo.
In Ankara, Turkey protested, called on the U.S. to reverse its decision and promised to "respond in kind without delay" against what it described as an aggressive stance by the Trump administration. It did not elaborate on possible measures.
A Foreign Ministry statement called the sanctions a "disrespectful intervention in our legal system" that would harm "the constructive efforts toward resolving problems between the two countries."
The Turkish currency dropped to an all-time low against the dollar after the announcement of the sanctions, trading at just over 5 lira against the dollar.
Brunson, 50, was arrested in December 2016 after a failed coup on charges of "committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member" and espionage. He was recently released to home detention. He faces a prison sentence of up to 35 years if he is convicted on both counts at the end of his ongoing trial.
Information for this article was contributed by Matthew Lee and Suzan Fraser of The Associated Press.
A Section on 08/02/2018