The United States has announced its decision to impose sanctions on senior Turkish figures over the country’s imprisonment of Pastor Andrew Brunson. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said that the men targeted with sanctions are Turkey’s Justice and Interior Ministers, whom had played leading roles in Brunson’s 2016 arrest and detention. ‘’the President has been closely monitoring the Sytuation in Turkey, involving Pastor Andrew Brunson. We have seen no evidence that pastor Brunson has done anything wrong and we believe he is a victim of unfair and unjust attention by the government of Turkey. At the Presidents direction the department of treasury is sanctioning Turkey’s Minister of Justice and Minister of Interior, both of whom played leading roles in the arrest and detention of Pastor Andrew Brunson,“ White House Press Secretary Sarah Hukabee said.
Andrew Brunson, a Christian evangelical Pastor from the United States who has worked in Turkey for more than 20 years, was sent to house arrest last week, after a Turkish court ruled his transfer from prison – in what was perceived to be an attempt by Ankara to alleviate tensions with the United States. Washington welcomed the release of Pastor Brunson from prison, yet emphasized that his house arrest is unacceptable and threatened to impose sanctions against Turkey over the pastor’s ongoing detention. Turkey’s President Erdogan emphasized that his government would not back down and was willing to “go its own way” if the United States would indeed impose sanctions. Nevertheless, after a Turkish court rejected an appeal for pastor Brunson to be released from house arrest, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin formally announced the sanctions against the Turkish officials, emphasizing that President Trump has made it abundantly clear that the United States expects Turkey to release Pastor Brunson immediately. In response to the American decision, the Turkish Foreign Ministry released a statement in which it vowed to retaliate unless the sanctions are lifted, calling on ” the US administration to walk back from this wrong decision,” as it put it, calling Washington’s action a “hostile stance.”