No decision on Turkey sanctions yet, top US diplomat says

US SECRETARY of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday said he expects a decision soon regarding US sanctions imposed on Turkey, noting that some of them were directly connected to Ankara’s detention of an American pastor who was released last week.

“We’ll have a decision on that shortly,” Mr Pompeo told reporters on the plane after his visit to Ankara, according to audio that aired on CNN.

“There’s a logic to now moving those as well but no final decision has been made and I need to talk to the president about that,” he added. Mr Pompeo spoke to reporters after meeting with Turkey’s president and foreign minister earlier on Wednesday, days after US pastor Andrew Brunson was released.

While Mr Pompeo welcomed Mr Brunson’s release in meetings with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, according to the US State Department, he also raised concerns about others being held in Turkey, including a Turkish-US scientist who had worked for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa)

“The Secretary also discussed with Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu the continued wrongful detention of Dr Serkan Gölge and other US citizens as well as locally employed staff from US Mission Turkey,” department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement

Gölge was visiting family in southern Turkey when he was arrested in a crackdown following a failed military coup in 2016 which the government blamed on supporters of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen.

He has denied the charges. His sentence last month was reduced to five years.

US-Turkish relations have been strained over the detentions as well as other issues, and the United States has imposed sanctions and tariffs on Ankara.

Mr Brunson, whose detention fuelled a diplomatic crisis that sent the lira tumbling this year, had also been charged with terrorism offences. He was released last Friday and returned to the United States.

On Wednesday, Mr Brunson’s lawyer said he was appealing against the verdict and sentence in the Turkish court.