Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu spoke with his U.S. counterpart Mike Pompeo over the phone on Monday, the U.S. said Tuesday, amidst a row between the two NATO allies.
The Foreign Ministry strongly protested against the U.S. Treasury Department's decision, calling on the U.S. administration to reverse its "wrong decision".
Brunson has been accused by the Turkish authorities of spying for the PKK (which has been designated as a terrorist group by both the U.S. and Turkey) and U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen and the latter’s Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), which orchestrated Turkey’s failed July 2016 coup attempt that left 251 martyrs in its wake.
Ankara also accuses FETÖ of carrying out a long-running campaign to overthrow the Turkish state through the infiltration of state institutions.
