Turkey, US mutually lift sanctions on officials

By Michael Hernandez / Zuhal Demirci

WASHINGTON

Turkey and US mutually lifted sanctions on officials on Friday.

The U.S Treasury Department said the blacklistings of Abdulhamit Gul and Suleyman Soylu have been lifted.

Shortly after the U.S. Treasury Department announced the blacklistings of Turkish ministers had been lifted, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said in a statement that the country lifted sanctions on Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

The U.S. had imposed sanctions on the ministers amid a row about pastor Andrew Brunson, an American cleric who was detained in Turkey on terrorism charges. He has since been freed.