Turkey won't bow to US threats, Cavusoglu tells Pompeo

By Zuhal Demirci

ANKARA

Turkey will not yield to anybody’s threats, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said during a telephone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday, according to diplomatic sources.

They spoke just after Turkish officials rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s tweet threatening to impose sanctions on Turkey if pastor Andrew Craig Brunson -- who faces terrorism-related charges -- is not released.

Cavusoglu stressed to Pompeo that the rules apply to everybody without exception, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Ankara has balked strongly at Trump threatening Turkey with sanctions if it does not release Brunson, who is charged with spying for the PKK -- a designated terrorist group in the U.S. and Turkey -- and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the defeated July 2016 coup attempt in Turkey.

Calling Trump’s threatening tweet an attempt to interfere with Turkey's judiciary, the Foreign Ministry on Thursday asserted: “No one can give orders to Turkey or threaten our country.”