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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara would insist on his positions after the threat of his US counterpart, Jonathan Trab, to impose sanctions if the Turkish authorities did not release American pastor Andrew Brunson , the Turkish television network Habertürk.
The United States will lose a strong and sincere partner if it does not change its behavior, Erdogan said in his statements, also broadcast by the TRT Haber TV network and other Turkish media. Similarly, Erdogan reportedly said that Ankara would resort to international arbitration if Washington blocked the completion of the sale and transfer of F-35 fighter technology to Turkey. The Turkish president also denied that his government had asked for US aid to release and return to the country Ebro Ozkan, Turkkala, which had been arrested by the Israeli authorities and accused of criminal prosecution for Hamas, according to Habertürk.
News reports in the media reported that Ozcan had been released at US request so that the American pastor could be released from the Turkish authorities in return. Branson, now jailed at home after being released after 21 months of imprisonment in a Turkish prison, has been living and working in Turkey for more than two decades.
He is accused by the Turkish authorities of supporting the Islamist organization that, according to Ankara, was behind the failed state coup in July 2016 and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), banned. Bronson, who denies the charges against him, faces a 35-year prison sentence when he is convicted.
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