The United States slapped unprecedented sanctions on two Turkish ministers Aug. 1 over Ankara’s refusal to release a detained American pastor, but some in Turkish government quarters have a different view of what lies behind the crisis. The United States, the argument goes, is furious over Turkey’s efforts to replace the dollar with national currencies in its trade with Iran and the BRICS countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

As the row over pastor Andrew Brunson escalated July 26 with President Donald Trump’s threat of sanctions, Burhan Kuzu, an administrative board member of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and former adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, tweeted, “The issue is not Brunson, don’t you get it yet? Trump has become a hostage to the Jewish lobby. This reaction stems from Turkey’s warm relations with Russia, Iran and China. The United States has gone mad over developments related to trade in national currencies and casting off the dollar.”

Erdogan seemed to send a similar message in his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in South Africa the same day. “The solidarity between us is making some jealous,” he said, and Putin reportedly reacted with a smile.

The more than 1,600 likes for Kuzu’s tweet suggest that his narrative resonated well with AKP supporters. Yet many others rejected his argument and responded with critical comments and sarcasm. One user wrote, “I think we should immediately set up a makeshift court outside Brunson’s home [where he is under house arrest] and send him back to the United States tonight. Or things will go bad.” Another user posed a stinging question referring to a recent credit deal: “Why didn’t we cast off the dollar when getting the $3.6 billion loan from China?”