July 26 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump threatened to impose economic sanctions on Turkey on Thursday for detaining an American pastor facing terrorism charges.
He called on Turkey to release Andrew Brunson, who was arrested in 2016 after a failed coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that resulted in more than 50,000 arrests. Brunson, who has lived in Turkey for 23 years, is accused of aiding the the Kurdistan Workers' Party, a militant separatist group, and supporting U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.