Turkish court rejects USA pastor Andrew Brunson’s appeal

The Trump administration has demanded that Brunson, a pastor from North Carolina who has lived in Turkey for decades, be allowed to return to the United States.

Qatar’s banking sector has considerable exposure to Turkey, whose currency has lost almost 40 percent this year. In response, Erdogan has called for a boycott of USA electrical goods. Doubling down on his standoff with President Donald Trump, Erdogan also called on Turkish companies to produce more of their own goods. “Let’s see if the Chinese and Russians put some money on the table”.

Kalin said Erdogan would hold telephone conversations with German Chancellor Angela Merkel later Wednesday and with Emmanuel Macron of France on Thursday. “Any help that Germany could give right now would be small compared to the problems at hand”.

Andrew Craig Brunson, an evangelical pastor from Black Mountain, N.C., arrives at his house in Izmir, Turkey, on July 25.

AFP reports Brunson’s jail term had been converted to house detention for health reasons.

Erdogan has rejected Washington’s demands to release him, while announcing new tariffs on US imports.

The ruckus between Turkey and the USA has impacted on other countries’ currencies, including the Indian rupee, as investors fear the lira’s wobbles could spread to developing nations.

“They are killing offshore lira liquidity to stop foreigners shorting the lira”, he said.

“Economists would certainly tell you that what is happening in Turkey goes far beyond the United States’ recent policies and imposition of various policies”, Nauert told a press briefing.

The Turkish lira firmed to 5.8699, from 6.04 to the USA dollar after the news.

In London, the FTSE 100 was down 0.4 per cent by Wednesday morning.

“Together with our people, we will stand decisively against the dollar, forex prices, inflation and interest rates”.

Markets weren’t all rosy. But neither side has backed down, with Erdogan invoking Turkey’s past of supporting the U.S.in times of need, including America’s war in Afghanistan. That fueled a relatively high rate of economic growth-7 percent previous year.

Turkey’s financial crisis came after President Donald Trump imposed heavy tariffs against Turkish steel and aluminium in response to the ongoing incarceration of the USA evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson.

The lira has lost almost 40 per cent against the dollar this year, driven by worries over Mr Erdogan’s growing control over the economy and his repeated calls for lower interest rates despite high inflation.

It was boosted after the Turkish banking regulator cut the amount of funds banks can use for currency swap trading, limiting the possibilities for speculating against the lira.

Turkey’s foreign minister has said that it is prepared to negotiate with the U.S. as equals, but will not be dictated to. Because of this political environment, the European Union is now closer to Turkey and Iran than the United States.

Against this backdrop, the nation’s banking regulator issued back-to-back statements starting late on Tuesday to try to ward off a crisis. That message came a day after White House national security adviser John Bolton met with Turkish ambassador Serdar Kilic about Brunson’s case.