The US on Wednesday slapped sanctions on the Turkish ministers of justice and of interior in retaliation to Turkey’s detainment of US pastor Andrew Brunson who is accused by Ankara of espionage and of conducting terrorist activities.
Commenting on the sanctions, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said they reflected the US belief that Brunson "is a victim of unfair and unjust attention by the government of Turkey.”
The US Treasury issued a statement saying, “As a result of these actions, any property, or interest in property, of both Turkey's Minister of Justice Abdulhamit Gul and Turkey's Minister of Interior Suleyman Soylu within US jurisdiction is blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.”
"Pastor Brunson's unjust detention and continued prosecution by Turkish officials is simply unacceptable," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was quoted as saying by the statement.
Before Washington’s decision to issue the sanctions, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it was not possible for Ankara to accept the threatening language of the US, adding those remarks were part of the "evangelist, zionist mentality" in the United States.
“Turkey does not have the slightest problem with religious minorities,” the President said, adding that Ankara would continue to practice its faiths and worship according to its traditions freely.
President Donald "Trump concluded that these sanctions are the appropriate action" after conversations with Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, the US Department of State quoted Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as saying.
Brunson was arrested in September 2016 following the July coup attempt in Ankara. The pastor is accused of links to FETO as well as the PKK.
The sanctions are issued under "Executive Order 13818, Blocking the Property of Persons Involved in Serious Human Rights Abuse or Corruption.”
