Talks fail to break impasse on U.S. pastor held in Turkey: WSJ

Trump administration is now positioned to impose new penalties on Ankara for refusing to free Andrew Brunson, Wall Street Journal reported
Thursday, 09 August 2018 19:57

The U.S. failed to secure assurances on Wednesday from Turkey to immediately free an American pastor held for nearly two years on disputed terrorism charges, Wall Street Journal reported citing U.S. officials.

During high-level talks in Washington, U.S. and Turkish officials were unable to produce a breakthrough in an impasse the officials told the Journal.

US President Donald Trump administration is now positioned to impose new penalties on Turkey for refusing to free Andrew Brunson, an evangelical North Carolina pastor who was detained in the aftermath of a failed 2016 coup against Erdoğan, the report added. The pastor is now under house arrest and faces up to 35 years in jail if found guilty.

Trump denounced the action on Twitter as a "total disgrace" and urged Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to set Brunson free.

On Wednesday, Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Önal met with officials at the departments of State and Treasury to discuss the dispute. But the talks ended without any assurances about Brunson, U.S. officials told the Journal.

Along with freedom from Brunson, the U.S. has been working to secure release for a Turkish-American NASA scientist, Serkan Gölge, who was also arrested in the post-coup crackdown in Turkey, and three Turkish citizens who work for the U.S. State Department in Turkey, the report said.