Erdogan takes umbrage at US ‘pressure’ to release detained pastor
The United States gave Turkey a deadline to release an American pastor being tried by a Turkish court or face sanctions, President Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday as he threatened once again to seek out new allies.
“They tell us to release the priest by Wednesday 6pm, otherwise the sanctions will begin,” Mr Erdogan said, revealing details of talks between the Nato allies in Washington on Wednesday.
Turkey was not a country to agree to such requests, he told members of his party in the Black Sea city of Trabzon.
Turkey’s detention of Andrew Brunson on security-related charges is one of a series of disputes at the heart of deteriorating ties between the two countries.
Washington had already imposed sanctions on two Turkish ministers this month and on Friday President Donald Trump announced a doubling of US tariffs of Turkish steel and aluminium, saying, “Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time”.
Both US moves caused drops in the Turkish lira, which fell to a record low on Friday, heightening investor fears over the state of its struggling economy.
All eyes will be on the lira when foreign exchange markets reopen today after the weekend break. But Mr Erdogan indicated he was in no mood to offer concessions to the United States, or financial markets.
“The aim of the operation is to make Turkey surrender in all areas, from finance to politics,” Mr Erdogan said.
“We are once again facing a political, underhand plot. With God’s permission we will overcome this.”
Mr Erdogan appeared unworried by the punitive measures imposed by the US, saying Turkey could turn to other partners and again terming the crisis an “economic war”.
“We will give our answer, by shifting to new markets, new partnerships and new alliances, to the one who waged an economic war against the entire world and also included our country,” he said.
“Some close the doors and some others open new ones,” said Mr Erdogan, who has built closer ties over recent years with countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia.
He appeared to indicate that the entire alliance between Turkey – which joined Nato in 1952 with strong American backing – and Washington was at stake.
“We can only say ‘goodbye’ to anyone who sacrifices its strategic partnership and a half-century alliance with a country of 81 million for the sake of relations with terrorist groups,” he said.
“You dare to sacrifice 81 million Turks for a priest who is linked to terrorist groups?”
Mr Brunson, an evangelical Christian, has been held since October 2016 on charges of terrorism and espionage, and if convicted, could face a jail term of 35 years.
Mr Trump has described his detention as a “total disgrace” and urged Mr Erdogan to free him immediately.
A delegation led by Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal failed to secure a deal last Wednesday in talks in Washington on a number of issues, including Mr Brunson.
Analysts say that while Washington’s sanctions against Ankara sparked the immediate crisis, Turkey’s economy has been risking trouble for a while because of high inflation and the weak lira.
The central bank has over the past weeks defied calls from markets for rate increases to combat these problems, raising fears of interference from Mr Erdogan, who has repeatedly called for low interest rates. Mr Erdogan on Saturday described interest rates as a “tool of exploitation”, in remarks that may not be warmly welcomed by the markets.
And the Brunson case is only one of several bones of contention between Turkey and the United States, ranging from Syria to Ankara’s increasingly cosy relationship with Moscow.
Mr Erdogan also hit back at US authorities for convicting Mehmet Hakan Atilla, 47, deputy director general of Turkish lender Halkbank, on charges of helping Iran to evade US sanctions on billions of dollars of oil proceeds.
“You arrest my Halkbank general deputy director? You impose sanctions on our Halkbank ... and then you expect different treatment from Turkey?” Mr Erdogan said in a second speech made in the same city.
He said Turkey’s response was not going to be based on reciprocity.
“Those who commit a crime will pay a price,” he said.
Turkey’s economy has been at risk of trouble because of high inflation, a weak currency and a central bank reluctant to intervene