​Father Brunson case: White House reads the riot act

TURKEY - In Brief 26 Jul 2018 by Atilla Yesilada

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24 hours after “terror suspect” pastor Andrew Brunson was released to house arrest, White House signaled in the strongest possible terms that he needs to be sent home, lest Turkey suffers “large sanctions”. Turkish officials responded with indignation, but the die is cast. This is clearly a breaking point in Turko-American relations. Both Trump and Erdogan are under pressure of different sorts to get what they want. Is a deal possible or will there be sanctions and Turkish retaliation? It appears that after complimenting Putin at the expense of his intelligence agencies in Helsinki and the Cohen tape recording, Mr. Trump is feeling the heat at home. The detention of Pastor Brunson is viewed as political hostage taking by the Christian community, which demands immediate relief. Trump will be hard put to show Erdogan more tolerance after the fiasco with Putin. Moreover, as reported in al Monitor in English, Turkish journalist Ms. Asli Aydintasbas claimed there was a deal to swap Father Brunson for incarcerated Iran sanctions buster Mr. Hakan Atilla, on which Ankara reneged in the last second, which I can’t confirm through independent sources. At the end though the sanctions warning by VP Pence and President trump is realistic and reinforced by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee speedily approving bill that would commit the U.S. to opposing any credit offers to Turkey by international lenders such as the World Bank’s International Finance Corp. Similar legislation also was introduced in the House of Representatives, though any final action in either case would be at least several weeks away, according to Bloomberg. In Ankara, Erdogan has already taken a step back by o...