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A delegation consisting of nine people from Turkey have gone to Washington to ease escalating tension caused by detention of Pastor Andrew Craig Brunson between Turkey and the US.
US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan hosted Turkey’s delegation headed by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Sedat Önal in ministry building.
The delegation then visited US Treasury Department.
“Talks continue”
A brief statement was made by the US State Department in the wake of the 1-hour meeting, Amerika’nın Sesi reported.
It was said, “We’ve held additional meetings with Turkish officials. Meetings continue” in the statement.
Nauert: Bilateral topics including Brunson were discussed
A few hours after this statement, Spokesperson for the US State Department Heather Nauert issued a written statement.
Nauert said that a series of bilateral topics including Brunson were addressed in the meeting.
“US Vice Secretary of State John J. Sullivan met with Turkey’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sedat Önal today. They addressed a series of bilateral topics including pastor Brunson”.
WSJ: New penalties are on the way
Writing an article to Wall Street Journal concerning the talks, journalist Dion Nissenbaum wrote that the talks failed.
Stating that the US failed to secure assurance from Turkey to free the pastor, Nissenbaum claimed that Trump administration has come to the stage to “take new punitive steps”. (EKN/TK)