Turkey's release of a long-time US pastor, Andrew Branson, has revived hopes that water will return to its tracks between Washington and Ankara, but there are many thorny files still an obstacle to strengthening NATO-NATO relations.
On Friday, Turkey released Branson after spending more than two years in prison and a period of house arrest. The priest left for Germany before resuming his trip to the United States, where he is expected to meet US President Donald Trump.
The United States has imposed economic sanctions on Turkey over the arrest of the 50-year-old pastor. Washington has rejected charges against Branson for helping those involved in a coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016.
The United States raised tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum imports and imposed sanctions on two prominent Turkish government ministers, which have led to a sharp decline in the Turkish lira, which has lost nearly 40 percent of its value this year.
Trump welcomed the release of Branson, saying he had suffered a lot and denied that Washington had made any deal with Turkey other than what was reported in some media about a US-Turkish settlement.
The American academic and political scientist Max Hofmann believes that Turkey avoided the worst of its release from the pastor because Washington would impose a new package of sanctions. Ankara's decision, at least, has stopped the decline, according to Bloomberg.
Outstanding issues
In the midst of this optimism, a number of files weigh heavily on the relations between Washington and Ankara. The most appropriate reason for this caution lies in Turkey's acquisition of the S-400 missile defense system from Russia, while the United States and other Western countries are trying to encircle Moscow.
There were voices in the United States calling for a delay in the delivery of F-35s, even though Lockheed Martin has manufactured a number of these aircraft in Turkey.
If Turkey has released the priest, it is still required to release other Americans, according to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The list includes a US space agency scientist, Sorkan Gulgi, and three Turkish officials in the US diplomatic mission in Turkey.
"We are still very concerned about the continued detention of other US citizens in Turkey and in other parts of the world, so we call for the release of all these cases," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also called on the Turkish authorities to "quickly release" the rest of the Americans who are being held there, and said: "Pastor Branson is finally returning to America after a long ordeal for his family, And the staff of the local Ministry of Foreign Affairs in detention. "
On the other hand, Erdogan does not have a response to his requests. The United States still refuses to hand over the cleric Fathullah Gulen, who resides on its territory, and accuses Turkey of masterminding the coup attempt in 2016.
A district dominated by Erdogan
"Turkey is no longer a rule of law in the eyes of foreign capitals and the United States because the judiciary is no longer independent. Every time Ankara arrests nationals of a foreign country, they release them after a while," he said. That the charges against them were not true.
In the view of the Turkish opposition that Erdogan tried to take the case of Rev. Shamaa to comment on economic failure, and warned that the economic crisis is greater than US sanctions, especially as a number of experts warned of the risk of lira pounding several months ago, but without ears.
