US imposes sanctions on two Turkish ministers

With an aim to punish Turkey for not releasing a detained American pastor, the White House Wednesday levied sanctions on two senior Turkish government officials.

The US treasury department has accused Turkish justice minister Abdulhamit Gul and interior minister Suleyman Soylu of playing “leading roles in the organisations responsible for the arrest and detention of Pastor Andrew Brunson”, The Washington Post reported.

The action from the Trump administration comes less than a week after the president promised to “impose large sanctions” on Turkey if Brunson was not released immediately.

Calling the US actions inexplicable, disrespectful and illegal, Turkey’s foreign ministry registered a “strong protest”. Foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted, “US attempts to impose sanctions on our two ministers will not go unanswered.”

Like thousands of others, pastor Brunson was arrested on charges of attempting to overthrow Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government in a coup two years ago.