Nationalist opposition suggests Turkish gov’t to seize Trump Towers as retaliation for US sanctions

Turkey’s nationalist opposition party’s (İYİ Party) spokesperson Aytun Çıray has said Turkish government should retaliate against the US sanctions and “seize the assets of the US president and secretaries.”

“The Justice and Development Party [AKP] government should seize Trump Towers,” he said in a statement on Thursday, referring to the Turkish franchise of Trump Towers located in a commercial district of İstanbul.

“The AKP should also halt the $11 billion passenger plane purchase from the US,” the statement said.

Condemning the US Treasury’s sanction decision, Çıray said İYİ Party regards it as “against the principle of an alliance.” He added that his party believes a transparent and lawful finalization of Brunson’s case is necessary.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has called on the Turkish government to impose sanctions on two US ministers in retaliation to Washington’s sanctions. “The decision made by the US tarnishes the honor of the Turkish people. We know that the person sheltering in Pennsylvania is the one behind the July 15,” CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu claimed on Thursday, referring to the US-based Turkish Muslim scholar Fethullah Gülen.

Blaming the government for using Brunson as a bargaining chip to be exchanged for Gülen, Kılıçdaroğlu stressed this resulted in the spat between the two countries. “In line with the reciprocity, we are expecting similar actions to be taken against US ministers,” he said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ultra-nationalist ally the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli also called for retaliation against the US on Thursday.  “Those who bully Turkey should be put into their place,” Bahçeli told reporters in the capital Ankara.

“Those who want their pastor back, should give us a pastor,” he said referring to Fethullah Gülen. Bahçeli said the US “overstepped the red line” with their recent move and it ignored being an ally of Turkey for a pastor, on whom there are many suspicions.

Turkish Parliament Speaker Binali Yıldırım has also termed the US decision to impose sanctions on two Turkish ministers as “unlawful and extremely arbitrary.”

“The sanctions decision taken by the US Secretary of Treasury has targeted our Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül and our Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, which is unlawful and extremely arbitrary,” Yıldırım said in a statement on Thursday.

“I strongly condemn this decision that is an indicator of a disrespectful manner on judicially process in Turkey,” he added. Yıldırım called on the US administration to reverse its decision.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the US was imposing sanctions on Turkey’s ministers of justice and interior for not releasing American Pastor Andrew Craig Brunson, who faces terrorism charges in Turkey. Sanders said the US would block the properties, if any, of the two ministers.

In a statement published Wednesday, the US Treasury Department said Turkish ministers Gül and Soylu “played leading roles in the organizations responsible for the arrest and detention of Pastor Andrew Brunson.”

According to US law, those mentioned on the sanctions list will have any of their assets and properties under US jurisdiction blocked and American businesses and individuals will be prohibited from engaging in financial transactions with them.

The post Nationalist opposition suggests Turkish gov’t to seize Trump Towers as retaliation for US sanctions appeared first on Stockholm Center for Freedom.

from Stockholm Center for Freedom https://stockholmcf.org/nationalist-opposition-suggests-turkish-govt-to-seize-trump-towers-as-retaliation-for-us-sanctions/