Turkey, US feud concerns more than pastor
ANKARA: A detained American pastor has become a symbol of a growing rift between Turkey and the US, but problems in the Cold War-era alliance as well as Turkey’s financial crisis are unlikely to dissipate even if he is released and Washington eases economic penalties.
The fate of Andrew Brunson, charged with terror offences by a Turkish court, also overshadows the predicament of a Turkish-american scientist from Nasa and several Turkish workers for the US diplomatic mission who were arrested in Turkey.
Turkey, meanwhile, is frustrated by the refusal of the US to extradite a Pennsylvania-based Muslim cleric accused by its authorities of engineering a 2016 coup attempt.
The conflict between Nato allies is even more personalised because of US president Donald Trump and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose uncompromising statements contribute to a sense that the tension will ratchet up before any possibility of a climbdown. The two countries already disagree over US support for Kurdish fighters in Syria, as well as a plan by Turkey to buy Russian missiles.
Dashing hopes for a quick solution to the dispute, a Turkish court on Friday rejected an appeal for the evangelical pastor’s release from house detention. It upheld a lower court’s decision against the lifting of a travel ban on Brunson.
Also on Friday, in more verbal sparring, Turkey’s trade minister said her government would respond in kind to new trade duties from the US after treasury chief Steve Mnuchin said the US could place more sanctions on Turkey if the pastor was not released soon.
“We have responded to the measures the US has taken and will continue to do so based on our international trade law rights and in accordance to World Trade Organisation rules,” said Ruhsar Pekcan.
The US has imposed sanctions on two Turkish government ministers and doubled tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum imports. Turkey retaliated with tariffs on some US imports and said it would boycott US electronic goods.
Turkey is struggling to stabilise its currency after it plunged to a record low in a crisis that spurred fears of bankruptcies and a spillover effect in other emerging markets if Turkish firms can’t pay back high foreign debt. Many financial experts say Turkey should raise interest rates to reduce inflation and attract investment, but Erdogan has so far opposed a move he says would curb growth.
The turmoil led ratings agency Moody’s to downgrade Turkey’s credit rating further into “junk” status and slap a “negative” rating on its outlook. Moody’s stripped Turkey of its investment-grade rating in 2016 and Friday’s move lowered it one rung further.
The leader of Turkey’s main opposition party said Erdogan was using the standoff over the evangelical pastor as a “pretext,” blaming the US for economic problems and diverting attention from his own alleged mismanagement. The feud over Brunson, who was detained in October 2016, has added to the jitters over an economy that grew quickly, with the help of heavy borrowing, in past years.
“Do you think the lira will gain against the dollar if Brunson is released? Would the amount of Turkey’s debts decrease?” Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of the Republican People’s Party, said on Thursday in Ankara, the capital.
Supporters of Brunson, who ran a small church in Izmir, say allegations that he was linked to Kurdish rebels as well as Turkish cleric and alleged coup plotter Fethullah Gulen are absurd.
If convicted, the American pastor faces up to 35 years in jail. – AP/ African News Agency (ANA)