https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/u...nson-qndll6hpk
US issues sanctions over jailed pastor Andrew Brunson
The US imposed financial sanctions on Turkey’s justice and interior ministers yesterday for detaining an American pastor accused of backing a coup attempt against President Erdogan.
In an extraordinary move directed at government officials of a fellow Nato country, the Treasury is freezing US assets belonging to Abdulhamit Gul, the justice minister, and Suleyman Soylu, the interior minister. The US blames them for the arrest and imprisonment of Andrew Brunson, who led a Protestant church in the city of Izmir. Mr Brunson is accused of aiding plotters of an attempted coup in 2016. If convicted, he faces up to 35 years in jail. He was put under house arrest last month after two years in prison in Turkey.
“Pastor Brunson’s unjust detention and continued prosecution by Turkish officials is simply unacceptable,” Steve Mnuchin, the US Treasury secretary, said. The Treasury notice states that Mr Gul and Mr Soylu are being sanctioned “as leaders of Turkish government organisations responsible for implementing Turkey’s serious human rights abuses”.
The White House disclosed that Mr Trump had spoken directly to President Erdogan about the detention and has previously threatened sanctions if Mr Brunson is not released. However, Mr Erdogan accused Washington yesterday of showing an “evangelist, Zionist mentality” and vowed not to give in to ultimatums from the US. “We will not give any credit to this type of threatening language,” Mr Erdogan told reporters in Ankara.
Last night Turkey’s foreign ministry called Washington’s action a “hostile stance” and said that it would retaliate.
Mr Brunson has denied the accusations. His next hearing is on October 12.