Erdogan accuses US of 'Zionist mentality' in pastor's case
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday vowed his country would not give into threats from the US over the case of an American pastor being tried on terror charges, accusing Washington of showing an “evangelist, Zionist mentality.”
Andrew Brunson, who led a protestant church in the Aegean city of Izmir, is at the center of one of the most bitter diplomatic spats between the NATO allies in years that risks escalating further.
Brunson was last week put under house arrest after nearly two years in jail. But the crisis has since escalated rather than being defused, with US officials furious he has not been allowed to leave Turkey.
US President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have threatened Turkey with painful sanctions if the pastor was not freed.
“We will not give any credit to this type of threatening language,” Erdogan told reporters in Ankara.
Pence said last week that Brunson was “a victim of religious persecution” but Erdogan insisted that Turkey did not have the “slightest problem with religious minorities.”
“It is not possible for us to accept that America gets up, especially with an evangelist, Zionist mentality, and uses this kind of threat-filled language,” Erdogan added.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/erdogan-accuses-us-of-zionist-mentality-in-pastors-case/
