US Sanctions on Turkey Censured

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Thursday castigated the United States’ decision to impose sanctions on two senior Turkish officials, saying that the move showed Washington’s tendency to resort to pressure tactics to achieve its goals.    

“US’ unlawful sanctions against two Turkish ministers—from an allied country—illustrates not just the US administration’s policy of pressure and extortion in lieu of statecraft, but that its addiction to sanctions knows no bounds,” Zarif wrote on his official Twitter account.

The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul and Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu on Wednesday in a new attempt to get the NATO ally to turn over Andrew Brunson, an American pastor accused of backing a coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan two years ago.

The US has blamed both officials of being involved in Brunson’s arrest and detention.

The foreign ministry in Ankara called Washington’s action a “hostile stance” and said it would retaliate.