US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke today with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu about the case of an American priest arrested and charged in Turkey with terrorism and espionage, the State Department announced.
The State Department announced that Pompeo and Çavuşoğlu committed to continuing discussions on the solution to this issue and other topics of mutual interest.
The conversation could be a hint that the two NATO allies are trying to reduce tensions in relations, which escalated this week after US President Donald Trump announced that he would impose sanctions on Turkey over the case of priest Andrew Branson, according to the Associated Press.
Ankara, which has a long list of demands for the American's release, assessed that it was a "cheap threat" from Trump.
Branson has lived in Turkey for two decades, and was arrested after the failed coup attempt in 2016. He denies accusations that he helped the group that Ankara blames for the coup attempt, and that he supported Kurdish extremists.
After spending 21 months in prison, Branson was moved to house arrest on Wednesday, but the US says that is not enough and insists that he be fully released.
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