Indonesia expresses support for Turkey, Erdogan

JAKARTA, Indonesia

The Indonesian Council of Ulama on Wednesday expressed strong support for Turkey against the United States' recent economic attacks.

Head of the council's external affairs committee, Muhyiddin Junaidi, told Anadolu Agency that they support Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's stance against the U.S.

Stressing that the U.S. targeted Muslim countries and tried to curb Turkey's power in the region, Junaidi said that Muslim world must use their own currency in trade among themselves against the U.S. dollar.

Junaidi praised Turkey's economy and its commercial and added that Turkey would overcome the U.S.' attacks.

Turkey and the U.S. are currently experiencing rocky relations following Washington’s imposition of sanctions over the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson, who is under house arrest in Turkey over terrorism charges.

Brunson's charges include spying for the PKK -- listed as a terrorist group by both the U.S. and Turkey -- and the Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the defeated coup attempt in Turkey of July 2016.

Reporting by Mahmut Atanur: Writing by Merve Aydogan