US Not Going To Take Turkeys Actions Sitting Down - Trump

US President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday that Turkey has not been acting as a friend with respect to American Pastor Andrew Brunson, who is currently under house arrest, and that the United States will not take Ankaras bad actions sitting down.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th August, 2018) US President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday that Turkey has not been acting as a friend with respect to American Pastor Andrew Brunson, who is currently under house arrest, and that the United States will not take Ankaras bad actions sitting down.

On Thursday, Trump said on Twitter that he is calling on Brunson to represent the United States as a "great patriot hostage" a day after Turkey rejected Washingtons latest appeal for the pastors release.

"Well Turkey's been a problem for a long time. They have not acted as a friend. We'll see what happens," Trump told reporters. "They should have given him [Brunson] back a long time ago and Turkey has in my opinion acted very very badly We're not going to take it sitting down.

They can't take our people. So you will see what happens."

Earlier this month, the United States announced it was freezing the assets of Turkeys Minister of Justice Abdulhamit Gul and Minister of Interior Suleyman Soylu over their role in the detention of Brunson, as well as other alleged human right abuses.

Turkish authorities arrested Brunson two years ago for his alleged ties to the movement founded by Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara has accused of orchestrating the 2016 failed military coup. In late July, Brunson was released from a Turkish prison and placed under house arrest.