Aug 11 2018

Trump planning “a bullet a day” until Brunson release - WSJ

The Donald Trump administration is planning to retaliate against Turkey in a different way every day until it relents and releases Pastor Andrew Brunson, Dion Nissenbaum wrote for the Wall Street Journal.
“U.S. officials have repeatedly made it clear to their Turkish counterparts that the way to contain the damage—to Turkey’s economy and to U.S.-Turkish relations—is to free Mr. Brunson without delay,” Nissenbaum said.
“Turkey has little to gain from continuing to hold Pastor Brunson—and much to lose,” he quoted a spokesman for the White House National Security Council as saying.
Brunson has been in pre-trial detention since October 2016 on charges of supporting two terrorist groups in Turkey. The charges, based on anecdotal evidence from anonymous sources, have been described as a sham by U.S. officials.
After a deal between Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan fell through over Brunson’s release at the end of July, the United States applied sanctions to two Turkish ministers, leading to a big drop in the price of the lira.