Turkey shrugs off sanctions from US

Ankara vows to retaliate against 'aggression' over pastor legal case

WASHINGTON - Turkey's justice minister on Wednesday shrugged off a US decision to impose sanctions against him and another Turkish government minister, saying he doesn't have a penny to his name anywhere outside Turkey.

The response came after the US announced sanctions against Turkey's Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul and Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu over a detained US pastor who is being tried on espionage and terror-related charges.

Gul took to Twitter on Wednesday to say that he had no assets outside the country and that he dreamt of owning "a small olive grove" in his Turkish hometown.

In a statement, meanwhile, the Turkish Foreign Ministry vowed to "retaliate" against US "aggression" over the case of Andrew Brunson "without any delay", and called on Washington to reverse its decision.

Earlier on Wednesday, Washington slapped sanctions on Gul and Soylu.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said both men "played leading roles in the arrest and detention of Pastor Brunson".

"We've 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," Sanders said.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Turkish government refused to release Brunson "after numerous conversations between President Trump and President Erdogan," along with his conversations with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavosuglo.

In Ankara, Turkey called on the US to reverse its decision and promised to respond immediately against what it described as an aggressive stance by the Trump administration. It did not elaborate on possible measures.

"There is no doubt that this decision, which is a disrespectful intervention in our legal system, is contrary to our relationship with the United States and that it will cause great harm to ongoing constructive efforts to solve the problems between the two countries," Turkish Foreign Ministry statement said.

Alleged links

Brunson was indicted for allegedly having links with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party and Fethullah Gulen, an exiled Turkish preacher who allegedly masterminded the failed coup attempt in 2016 to topple Erdogan.

A Turkish court last week agreed to move Brunson from prison to house arrest over health concerns, but it still does not allow him to return to the US.

As a result of these sanctions, any property or interest in property of both Turkish ministers within US jurisdiction is blocked, and US citizens are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

For its part, the US Senate introduced bipartisan legislation on July 19 to restrict loans from international financial institutions to Turkey "until the Turkish government ends the unjust detention of US citizens".

Turkey responded with a strongly-worded statement. Its National Security Council said on Monday that the threatening language of the US is "unacceptable and disrespectful".

Besides Brunson's case, there have already been too many issues between the two countries standing in the way of a rapprochement, Wayne White, former deputy director of the Middle East Intelligence Office of the US State Department, told Xinhua News Agency.

He cited among others the US-Turkish spats over the detention of several US citizens and the extradition of Gulen, and the US military presence in Syria.

Turkey's purchase of a Russian S-400 missile defense system has become a new flashpoint. The US Congress has introduced another bill to prevent the transfer of US-made F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, claiming that Russian systems would not be interoperable with NATO and could compromise the security of US jets and NATO allies at large.

Xinhua - Ap - Afp

(China Daily 08/03/2018 page11)