(FASTNEWS|COLOMBO) – The United Sates (US) has threatened to impose more economic sanctions on Turkey if it does not free a detained American pastor.
Andrew Brunson has been held in Turkey for nearly two-years over alleged links to political groups.
The dispute over his release has seen the two former allies put tariffs on one another’s goods.
This has worsened a crisis for Turkey’s currency, the lira, which has lost about a third of its value against the Dollar since January.
This has prompted widespread selling in other emerging markets, sparking fears of a global crisis.
The currency had recovered slightly earlier this week after the Government increased tariffs on imports from the US of cars, alcoholic drinks and leaf tobacco.
But the recovery was overshadowed by the fresh threats from the US.
Last week, the US doubled its tariffs on metal imports from Turkey, and on Thursday (16), US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said, “We have more that we are planning to do if they don’t release him [Mr. Brunson] quickly.”
