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An American pastor detained at the center of a fierce battle between Ankara and Washington has "dark relations with a terrorist group," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday, adding that the two countries are making progress.
In a speech made on the occasion of the opening of Parliament after the summer break, Erdogan accused US President Donald Trump of using Andrew Brunson, an evangelical preacher detained for almost two years for terrorism and espionage, as an "excuse" to impose sanctions against his country.
The US president announced in August punitive measures against two Turkish ministers and raised tariffs on Turkish imports of steel and aluminum after the collapse of negotiations to free Brunson, plunging Turkey into a currency crisis.
Erdogan, who visited New York last week but had no substantive discussions with Trump, said it was a mistake for the US to use "the language of the threats". and blackmail instead of dialogue ".
He also described a US survey of Halkbank, a Turkish public lender, as "an unprecedented example of illegality". The US Treasury investigation, accused of violating US sanctions against Iran, has angered Mr. Erdogan, and Ankara had asked Washington to abandon the case against the bank in return for the release of Mr. Brunson.
The Turkish president said he thought the United States would correct its "wrong approach" and expressed hope that the conflict between the two countries would be resolved soon.
"I hope that we will solve the problems between us as soon as possible and that we will return to building our political and economic relations in a spirit of strategic partnership," he said.
Mr Brunson, who denies the charges against him, is due to appear in a court in Izmir, in the west of the country, on 12 October.
