Trump promised the other day that if Erdogan didn’t release Christian pastor Andrew Brunson, then he would begin sanctioning them.
According to Sarah Sanders, it has begun:
BREAKING: White House announces US Treasury is sanctioning high-ranking Turkish officials as Turkey refuses President Trump’s demands to release detained American pastor. pic.twitter.com/w9ctVU9cas
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) August 1, 2018
Here’s part of what she announced:
“At the president’s direction, the Department of Treasury is sanctioning Turkey’s minister of justice and minister of interior, both of whom played leading roles in the arrest and detention of Pastor Brunson. As a result, any property or interest in property of both ministers within U.S. jurisdiction is blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.”
I’m so glad to see Trump moving these sanctions through so quickly and I hope they are just the beginning.
Erdogan is an evil megalomaniac who only arrested Brunson for use as leverage to get Gulen. He has a reputation as a strong man to uphold to his people, so I doubt he’ll be giving in anytime soon.
I hope Trump includes on his Brunson agenda kicking Turkey out of NATO, because that would be epic. And very much needed, as Turkey should be an enemy of NATO, not a member.