SINGAPORE: Despite a sharp deterioration in members of the family over the detention of an American pastor, the United States and Turkey stay valued partners, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo mentioned Saturday, in an obvious bid to ease tensions that have rocked ties between the NATO allies.
Pompeo told journalists at the sidelines of an Asian safety discussion board in Singapore that the two international locations would proceed to work with every other within the framework of the alliance and on other issues.
"Turkey is a NATO partner with whom the United States has every intention of continuing to work cooperatively," Pompeo mentioned.
Earlier this week, the Trump management took the uncommon, if now not extraordinary, step of hitting two senior Turkish officials with sanctions over the case of Pastor Andrew Brunson, who remains in detention in spite of repeated demands from President Donald Trump for his unlock. Pompeo met on Friday with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to talk about the subject at the back of closed doors and mentioned those talks had been "constructive."
"I made clear that it is well past time that Pastor Brunson be freed and be permitted to return to the United States," he mentioned, including that several detained native State Department staff should even be launched. "I am hopeful that in the coming days we will see that occur," Pompeo mentioned.
He acknowledged "lots of challenges" with Turkey, however mentioned Washington and Ankara had been ready to work intently and smartly in combination. They have been at odds over a large number of issues, together with army process in northern Syria and Turkey's plans to purchase a sophisticated air defense device from Russia.
Speaking to Turkish reporters after his meeting with Pompeo, Cavusoglu additionally described their dialogue as "extremely constructive" and mentioned the two would proceed to work toward resolving disputes. But he mentioned threats would now not work. "We repeated to them that nothing can be achieved through threatening language and sanctions and we believe that this was well understood," he mentioned.
Brunson, 50, is being tried on espionage and terror-related charges, which he and the U.S. executive vehemently deny. He was once arrested in December 2016 following a failed coup on charges of "committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member" and espionage. Although he was once launched to house detention, he faces a prison sentence of as much as 35 years if he is convicted on each counts on the finish of his ongoing trial. The evangelical pastor, who's initially from Black Mountain, North Carolina, has lived in Turkey for 23 years and led the Izmir Resurrection Church.
Last week, President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence threatened to impose sanctions on Turkey if Brunson was once now not immediately launched. They mentioned his contemporary transfer from jail to deal with arrest was once now not sufficient and on Wednesday, the Treasury Department hit Turkey's Justice Minister, Abdulhamit Gul, and Interior Minister, Suleyman Soylu, with sanctions that block any belongings they'll have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar Americans from doing business with them..
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rejected the U.S. demands, announcing his executive would possibly not go into reverse and is prepared to "go its own way" if the U.S. acted. The Turks have additionally vowed to retaliate for the sanctions "without delay."
The Turkish leader has prior to now hooked up Brunson's return to the U.S. to the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, an exiled Turkish cleric who lives in Pennsylvania. Ankara blames Gulen for the coup try, while the cleric denies involvement.
Pompeo told journalists at the sidelines of an Asian safety discussion board in Singapore that the two international locations would proceed to work with every other within the framework of the alliance and on other issues.
"Turkey is a NATO partner with whom the United States has every intention of continuing to work cooperatively," Pompeo mentioned.
Earlier this week, the Trump management took the uncommon, if now not extraordinary, step of hitting two senior Turkish officials with sanctions over the case of Pastor Andrew Brunson, who remains in detention in spite of repeated demands from President Donald Trump for his unlock. Pompeo met on Friday with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to talk about the subject at the back of closed doors and mentioned those talks had been "constructive."
"I made clear that it is well past time that Pastor Brunson be freed and be permitted to return to the United States," he mentioned, including that several detained native State Department staff should even be launched. "I am hopeful that in the coming days we will see that occur," Pompeo mentioned.
He acknowledged "lots of challenges" with Turkey, however mentioned Washington and Ankara had been ready to work intently and smartly in combination. They have been at odds over a large number of issues, together with army process in northern Syria and Turkey's plans to purchase a sophisticated air defense device from Russia.
Speaking to Turkish reporters after his meeting with Pompeo, Cavusoglu additionally described their dialogue as "extremely constructive" and mentioned the two would proceed to work toward resolving disputes. But he mentioned threats would now not work. "We repeated to them that nothing can be achieved through threatening language and sanctions and we believe that this was well understood," he mentioned.
Brunson, 50, is being tried on espionage and terror-related charges, which he and the U.S. executive vehemently deny. He was once arrested in December 2016 following a failed coup on charges of "committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member" and espionage. Although he was once launched to house detention, he faces a prison sentence of as much as 35 years if he is convicted on each counts on the finish of his ongoing trial. The evangelical pastor, who's initially from Black Mountain, North Carolina, has lived in Turkey for 23 years and led the Izmir Resurrection Church.
Last week, President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence threatened to impose sanctions on Turkey if Brunson was once now not immediately launched. They mentioned his contemporary transfer from jail to deal with arrest was once now not sufficient and on Wednesday, the Treasury Department hit Turkey's Justice Minister, Abdulhamit Gul, and Interior Minister, Suleyman Soylu, with sanctions that block any belongings they'll have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar Americans from doing business with them..
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rejected the U.S. demands, announcing his executive would possibly not go into reverse and is prepared to "go its own way" if the U.S. acted. The Turks have additionally vowed to retaliate for the sanctions "without delay."
The Turkish leader has prior to now hooked up Brunson's return to the U.S. to the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, an exiled Turkish cleric who lives in Pennsylvania. Ankara blames Gulen for the coup try, while the cleric denies involvement.
Despite tensions, Turkey remains a key US ally: Mike Pompeo
![Despite tensions, Turkey remains a key US ally: Mike Pompeo]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
August 05, 2018
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