Setback for US Pastor Brunson as Turkey Retaliates Against Trump

American pastor Andrew Brunson has received another setback as he remains detained by the regime in Turkey.

A Turkish court has rejected an appeal to release Brunson and lift his travel ban.

The pastor is at the center of an escalating spat between the US and Turkey. The US government is demanding that Turkey release Brunson, saying he's being held captive based on false accusations of spying.

The Trump administration has slapped the Turkish regime with tariffs and sanctions for holding the US citizen captive. In retaliation, Turkey is now hiking tariffs on American cars to 120 percent and increasing duties on alcohol to 140 percent. Fruit, coal, and makeup are also affected.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is calling on his people to boycott other US products as Turkey plunges into a financial crisis and drifts farther away from NATO allies and closer to Russia.
  
Turkey's currency value has tanked since the US sanctions were declared. 

Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin referred to the conflict with the US in stark terms saying, "Turkey does not favor an economic war, but it cannot remain unresponsive when it is attacked."

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