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Brunson affair taking economic toll on Turkey

A Turkish delegation has been dispatched to Washington to try to resolve the crisis swirling around the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson in Izmir.
US pastor Andrew Craig Brunson escorted by Turkish plain clothes police officers arrives at his house on July 25, 2018 in Izmir. - Turkey on July 15, 2018 moved from jail to house arrest US pastor Andrew Brunson who has spent almost two years imprisoned on terror-related charges, in a controversial case that has ratcheted up tensions with the United States. Andrew Brunson, who ran a protestant church in the Aegean city of Izmir, was first detained in October 2016 and had remained in prison in Turkey ever si

A Turkish delegation of senior diplomats, legal experts and Treasury officials is expected to arrive in Washington in a bid to defuse the ongoing crisis between the NATO allies sparked by the continued detention of North Carolina evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson.

The delegation, led by newly appointed Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Unal, was scheduled to land Aug. 7. The State Department meanwhile confirmed that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had today spoken by phone with his Turkish counterpart, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, but there was no readout of the conversation.

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