Turkey's Supreme Court Rejects American Pastor's Request to End House Arrest

Turkey's Supreme Court on Friday rejected the request of an American pastor imprisoned in the country who sought to end his house arrest and travel ban. Following this announcement, the value of the Turkish lira fell by another four percent against the dollar. Previously, a lower court in Izmir had rejected Andrew Brunson's request, which was then referred to the Supreme Court. According to Reuters, after the Supreme Court's rejection of Mr. Brunson's request, the value of the lira dropped to 6.03 against one dollar. Earlier this week, at one point, the lira reached its lowest level of 7.24 against one dollar. Andrew Brunson was arrested following the failed coup in 2016 on charges of 'espionage' and 'terrorism' related to the Fethullah Gülen network, a Turkish cleric living in the U.S., and Kurdish militant groups. He has denied these charges. The trial of Pastor Brunson has become a significant challenge in U.S.-Turkey relations. Washington, which considers Brunson's trial to be unjust, has sanctioned Abdulhamit Gül, the Turkish Minister of Justice, and Süleyman Soylu, the Minister of Interior, for their roles in Brunson's detention. At the same time, the U.S. has recently doubled tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Turkey. In response, Turkey has also doubled tariffs on certain American goods, including alcoholic beverages, cars, and cigarettes. On Friday, Donald Trump commented on Brunson's trial, stating, 'Turkey has long been a problem. They are not behaving in a friendly manner. We will see what happens.' He added, 'They should have sent him (Andrew Brunson) back long ago, and Turkey has behaved very, very badly in my opinion. So this saga continues. We will not leave this behavior unanswered. They cannot take our people (imprison them).' On Thursday, the U.S. Treasury Secretary stated that the United States is preparing new sanctions against Turkey to be imposed if the American pastor is not freed. However, it is still unclear what these sanctions will entail.