Turkey's kooky coup obsessed Erdogan still holding preacher of small congregation like he was a rebellious general

Times:
Turkey has vowed to retaliate after the United States imposed sanctions on two senior ministers in President Erdogan’s cabinet in an escalating row over the detention of a preacher.

The US treasury announced measures last night against Suleyman Soylu, the interior minister, and Abdulhamit Gul, the justice minister, in response to the treatment of Andrew Brunson, an American.

The evangelical preacher, who had led a small congregation in the western Turkish city of Izmir for more than 20 years, was detained in October 2016. The Turkish government accuses Mr Brunson of links to the coup attempt of that year, and he faces up to 35 years in prison if found guilty.

Mr Erdogan has previously tried to swap him for Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic cleric…
...
Erdogan is holding him as a hostage for another guy who was not connected to the coup. Erdogan is an international embarrassment.  His actions since the failed coup have been despotic in the extreme.  He has used it as an excuse to jail political foes and the arrest of this preacher is a form of attempted extortion.

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