White House Expresses Frustration With Continued Detention of US Pastor in Turkey

Neither side appears willing to back down in the dispute over Andrew Brunson, an evangelical preacher who was arrested on terrorism charges in Turkey 22 months ago.

Tillis, who has observed part of Brunson’s trial, described it as “truly a kangaroo court” with secret witnesses.

Brunson, who faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted, has always maintained his innocence.

Andrew Brunson’s continued detention with charges of terrorism and espionage was cited as the basis of U.S. sanctions on two Turkish ministers on 1 August, which was followed by a doubling on 10 August of United States tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminium to 50% and 20% respectively. “These are appeals that require fast decision making because they are related to an individual’s freedoms”, Brunson’s attorney Ismail Cem Halavurt told Reuters.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly described the dispute with the USA with as an “economic war” that Ankara will win.

The Turkish government doubled its tariffs on imports of American cars and alcoholic beverages to 120 and 140 percent, respectively, CNN reported.

On Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would like to form “a new alliance” with China, Iran and Russian Federation to resist economic pressures imposed by the Donald Trump administration. Turkey had previously said it would boycott U.S. electronic products.

On Wednesday, a court rejected an appeal for Brunson’s release from detention and for a travel ban against him to be lifted, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

The announcement on Wednesday came after the emir held talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, Turkey’s capital.

China isn’t the only country the USA has a rocky relationship with – Turkey is causing a few headaches for United States leaders as well. Anger that the baseless charges against him and the Istanbul 10 have not been dropped. While officially the bad debt ratio at Turkey’s banks is just 3 percent, lenders are in the process of renegotiating upwards of $20 billion of loans to try to prevent them from going into default.

Lavrov, alongside Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, also declared, “We are at a turning point, without exaggeration, in world history” from dominance by a single power toward a multipolar environment.

“We can live together, and we can live in peace, to the advantage of both our nations”.

Doubling down on his standoff with President Donald Trump, Erdogan also called on Turkish companies to produce more of their own goods.

He added: “The EU will remain engaged in this strategic partnership”.

The lira rebounded some 8 per cent on Tuesday, helped by news of a planned conference call on Thursday in which the finance minister will seek to reassure global investors.