IMAGE: aa.com.tr
Ankara is going to respnose to symmetrically to US sanctions imposed on Turkey’s Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul and Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu.
On August 4, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country will freeze assets of the US “justice and interior” secretaries in Turkey.
“I am instructing my friends today. We will freeze assets, if there are any, of the U.S. justice and interior secretaries in Turkey,” the president said speaking at ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party’s Women Branch congress in Ankara.
He emphasized that the Turkish nation will not step back because of “threatening rhetoric and silly decisions” of sanctions.
“Especially the latest step by America regarding pastor Brunson issue in Izmir, is an ill-fitted step for a strategic partner,” Erdigan said.
An August 1 decision by the US to impose sanctions on two Turkish top officials were justified by Ankara’s refusal to release US Pastor Andrew Craig Brunson, who faces terrorism charges in Turkey. This decision was the latest in a series of diplomatic and political incidents between the sides.
The US-Turkish relations are slowly deteriorating.
