ANKARA, Turkey-A detained American pastor has become a symbol of a growing rift between Turkey and the United States, but problems in the Cold War-era alliance as well as Turkey's own financial crisis are unlikely to dissipate even if he is released and Washington eases economic penalties.
The fate of Andrew Brunson, charged with terror offenses by a Turkish court, also overshadows the predicament of a Turkish-American scientist from NASA and several Turkish workers for the U.S. diplomatic mission who were arrested in Turkey. Turkey, meanwhile, is frustrated by the refusal of the U.S. to extradite a Pennsylvania-based Muslim cleric accused by Turkish authorities of engineering a 2016 coup attempt.
The conflict between NATO allies is even more personalized because of U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose uncompromising statements contribute to a sense that the tension will ratchet up before any possibility of a climbdown. The two countries already disagree over U.S. support for Kurdish fighters in Syria, as well as a plan by Turkey to buy Russian missiles.
Dashing hopes for a quick solution to the dispute, a Turkish court on Friday rejected an appeal for the evangelical pastor's release from house detention. It upheld a lower court's decision against the lifting of a travel ban on Brunson.
Also Friday, in more verbal sparring, Turkey's trade minister said her government would respond in kind to any new trade duties from the United States after U.S. Treasury chief Steve Mnuchin said the U.S. could put more sanctions on Turkey if the pastor is not released soon.
"We have responded to the measures the United States has taken, and will continue to do so based on our international trade law rights and in accordance to World Trade Organization rules," said the minister, Ruhsar Pekcan.
The leader of Turkey's main opposition party said Erdogan was using the standoff over the evangelical pastor as a "pretext," blaming the United States for economic problems and diverting attention from his own alleged mismanagement.