Washington, Aug 2 (AP) Turkey has called on the United States to reverse its decision to sanction two Turkish government ministers over a detained American pastor and is threatening to retaliate "without delay."

A Foreign Ministry statement issued yesterday said Turkey "strongly protests" the US Treasury's decision to impose sanctions against Turkey's justice and interior ministers.

It said Turkey would "respond in kind without delay" against what it described as an aggressive stance by the United States.

President Donald Trump had warned last week that he might impose sanctions against Turkey for its treatment of Andrew Craig Brunson, who is under arrest in Turkey and accused of espionage and aiding terror groups.

The ministry called the sanctions a "disrespectful intervention in our legal system" that would harm "the constructive efforts toward resolving problems between the two countries."

The White House has announced that the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on two Turkish officials over a detained American pastor who is being tried on espionage and terror-related charges.

White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the Trump administration will sanction Turkey's minister of justice and minister of interior over the holding of 50-year-old Andrew Craig Brunson.

The administration said Turkey's Minister of Justice Abdulhamit Gul and Minister of Interior Suleyman Soylu both played leading roles in the organisations responsible for Brunson's arrest and detention.

Brunson, an evangelical pastor, was arrested in December 2016 and jailed. He was recently released to home detention.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said his government won't back down and may "go its own way" if the US imposes sanctions. (AP) NSD

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)