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US-TURKEY-DIPLOMACY-SANCTIONS
Turkey vows retaliation in crisis with US over pastor
ISTANBUL, Aug 2, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Turkey was on Thursday drawing up
retaliatory measures after Washington slapped sanctions on two Turkish
ministers in the one of the biggest crises between the two NATO allies in
recent years.
Tensions have soared over Turkey’s detention on terror charges of American
pastor Andrew Brunson, who was first held in October 2016 and was moved to
house arrest last week.
The sanctions targeting Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul and Interior
Minister Suleyman Soylu freeze any property or assets on US soil held by the
two ministers, and bar US citizens from doing business with them.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told journalists both ministers had
“played leading roles in the arrest and detention of Pastor Brunson”, who led
a Protestant church in the Aegean city of Izmir.
The US Treasury implemented the sanctions under the 2016 Global Magnitsky
Act named after Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a Moscow jail,
and which allows the US to sanction foreign officials implicated in rights
abuses.
The Turkish foreign ministry warned that the move “will greatly damage
constructive efforts” to solve outstanding issues and told Washington it
would retaliate.
“Without delay, there will be a response to this aggressive attitude that
will not serve any purpose,” it said.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who is set to meet US Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo in the next few days, also warned that the move “will not go
without response”.
Hours before the sanctions were announced, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
accused Washington of showing an “evangelist, Zionist mentality”.
– ‘Historic rupture’ –
The standoff appears to be one of the most serious crises between Turkey
and the United States in modern history, along with the rows over the 1974
Turkish invasion of Cyprus and the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.
“A scandalous decision from Washington,” said the headline in the pro-
government Hurriyet daily. “A historic rupture,” added the opposition
Cumhuriyet.
In a rare show of unity by Turkey’s parliament, two opposition parties
joined Erdogan’s ruling party and its main ally by agreeing a joint statement
opposing the sanctions.
The row over Brunson escalated last week when US Vice President Mike Pence,
like the pastor an evangelical Christian, said Turkey would face “significant
sanctions” if this “innocent man of faith” was not freed.
His language was immediately echoed by President Donald Trump, who had
enjoyed a relatively warm relationship with Erdogan and was even reported to
have “fist-bumped” the Turkish president at a NATO summit last month.
US media reported there had been a deal with Turkey to free Brunson after
Washington’s ally Israel released a Turkish woman held on terror charges. But
Turkish officials have rubbished the claims.
The senior US general in Europe, Curtis Scaparrotti, was on Thursday
holding talks with Turkish military officials in Ankara but there was no
indication the Brunson case would be raised.
The court trying Brunson has repeatedly refused to allow him to go free.
The next hearing is October 12 with the pastor facing 35 years in jail if
convicted.
He is accused of acting on behalf of two groups deemed by Turkey to be
terrorist organisations — the movement led by US-based Muslim preacher
Fethullah Gulen who Ankara says was behind the 2016 coup bid and the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
– ‘We will get it’ –
The row over Brunson is just one of a number of disputes which have buried
any hope of a warming of ties under the Trump presidency.
Ankara and Washington are at odds over American support for a Kurdish
militia in Syria and the United States is extremely wary over Turkey’s
growing cooperation with Russia and its deal to buy Russian air defence
systems.
Two Turkish employees of US consulates in Turkey are also currently in jail
on terror charges and another is under house arrest, while several Americans
have been caught up in the crackdown that followed the failed coup.
Turkey is meanwhile furious the United States has failed to extradite
Gulen, who lives in rural Pennsylvania, to face trial over the coup bid.
Gul dismissed the sanctions, saying: “I have neither a tree planted nor
one penny in the US or any other country outside of Turkey.”
The sanctions rattled financial markets with the Turkish lira hitting five
to the dollar for the first time in history. The currency has lost four
percent against the dollar in the last week alone.
BSS/AFP/RY/1740 hrs