Turkey vows retaliation against US sanctions without delay

ANKARA

Turkey has strongly protested the United States and said it will retaliate the sanctions imposed on justice and interior ministers in the same way and without delay.

“We strongly protest the sanctions announced by the U.S. Treasury Department,” read the written statement issued by the Foreign Ministry late Aug 1.

“This aggressive stance that does not serve any interest will be retaliated in the same, without delay,” it added.

The statement came a few hours after the White House announced sanctions against Justice Minister Abdülhamit Gül and Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu over the continued detention of Pastor Andrew Brunson.

Although the statement did not detail what sanctions Turkey will retaliate, but it’s expected that similar sanctions will be imposed on Attorney General and Secretary of Interior of the U.S. administration.

Sanctions imposed on Turkish ministers cannot be related with either state credibility or justice, the statement said, urging that this decision will deliver major damages on constructive efforts for the resolution of bilateral problems.

“We call the U.S. to reverse this erroneous decision,” it added.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, through his Twitter account, also reiterated that U.S. sanctions will not be left unresponded.

"We will not be able to resolve our problems unless the US administration realizes that it cannot reach its unlawful demands through this method," he said.

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Gül said that he has "not even a single cent" in the United States.

"I did not have any dream but living in my country," he said.