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ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey will stand after the United States President Donald Trump is threatening to slap sanctions on an American pastor, broadcaster Haberturk reported on Sunday.
FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan gesturing to the start of the NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium July 11, 2018. REUTERS / Kevin Lamarque / File Photo
The friendship between the United Erdogan was quoted by TRT Haber and other media.
"We will not take a step back when faced with sanctions," Erdogan is quoted as saying. "
American pastor Andrew Brunson, who has been arrested in this jail for 21 months of detention in a Turkish prison, has worked in Turkey for more than two decades.
An Ankara has been accused of supporting the group, and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The pastor, who has denied the charges, faces up to 35 years in jail if found guilty.
Diplomats have been working to settle the dispute and on Saturday U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo discussed the status of the pastor with Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, the State Department said.
Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun in Istanbul and Patrick Rucker in Washington; Editing by Sandra Maler
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