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ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey will resist US efforts to impose sanctions on Ankara following the trial of a Christian pastor detained for two years, said Monday President Tayyip Erdogan, accusing the preacher of having " obscure links with terrorism ".
PHOTO FILE: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine are seen in a car when they arrive in Berlin, Germany on September 27, 2018. REUTERS / Hannibal Hanschke / File Photo
Evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson's affair, which will take place on Oct. 12, plunged ties between Ankara and Washington, resulting in sanctions and US tariffs that allowed the Turkish lira to hit record lows in August .
Brunson is accused of links with Kurdish militants and supporters of Fethullah Gulen, the cleric who was blamed by Turkey for a failed coup attempt in 2016. He denied the charges and Washington demanded his immediate release.
The relations between the two NATO allies were already strained by disputes over US support for Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, Turkey's plans to buy a Russian missile defense system and the imprisonment of a Turkish bank official for violating US sanctions against Iran.
"We are deeply saddened by the current US government, a strategic partner, which targets our country without any logical, political and strategic coherence," Erdogan said in an address to a new session of parliament.
Erdogan said Turkey was determined to fight, in legal and diplomatic frameworks, "this twisted deal, which imposes sanctions under the pretext of a pastor who is being judged because of his dark links with terrorist organizations. "
The Brunson case has become the most controversial issue between the two countries. US President Donald Trump thought he and Erdogan had agreed to an agreement to release him in July, but Ankara denied agreeing to release the pastor as part of a wider deal.
Brunson, who has been imprisoned or detained at home since October 2016, faces up to 35 years in prison if he is convicted. Last month, the chief prosecutor at his trial was replaced, a decision that his lawyer cautiously hailed, claiming that this could be a sign of a change in political will.
In his speech to the first session of Parliament since the summer break, Erdogan suggested the possibility of better relations, adding that there was still a lot of work to be done.
"We can say that we have started moving towards a common understanding (with the United States), even if it is not at the desired level," he said.
He also reiterated that Turkey accused Washington of protecting US-based Gulen for two decades, and said that the conviction in New York court of a leader of the Halkbank public bank for violating US sanctions against Iran was "an example" of single illegality ".
Tensions with Washington contributed to a collapse of the Turkish lira in August, when the currency hit a record low of 7.20 for a dollar. He has already been weakened by concerns over the extent of Erdogan's control over the economy and his opposition to raising interest rates to fight double-digit inflation.
Erdogan said the Turkish economy was overcoming what he described as "midnight operations" meant to break it.
"Our economy has started to rebalance with the measures we have taken, the meetings we have done and the programs we have developed," he told parliament.
The TRYTOM = D3 reading rallied more than 2% Monday, reaching its highest level in more than six weeks, optimistic about the possibility of publishing Brunson and following the rise in interest rates and the new economic program of government.
Turkey's exports also rose sharply in September, the Ministry of Commerce said, but a Turkish manufacturing industry activity hit its lowest level in nine years, a business survey revealed.
Additional report by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Edited by Dominic Evans
