Pence: US will sanction Turkey if detained pastor not freed

US Vice President Mike Pence warns Turkey that the United States will slap sanctions on the country if it does not take “immediate steps” to free an American pastor held since 2016 on terror-related charges.

“If Turkey does not take immediate actions to free this innocent man of faith and send him home to America, the US will impose significant sanctions on Turkey until Pastor Andrew Brunson is free,” Pence says at a State Department ministerial meeting to advance religious freedom.

Pence says he had a message to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on behalf of US President Donald Trump: “Release Pastor Andrew Brunson now or be prepared to face the consequences.”

Brunson was moved from jail to house arrest on Wednesday, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the move was “not enough.”

—AFP