Treasury Department Sanctions Turkish Officials Over Imprisoned American Pastor

The U.S. Department of Treasury announced yesterday that its Office of Foreign Assets Control has imposed sanctions on Turkey's Minister of Justice Abdulhamit Gul and its Minister of Interior Suleyman Soylu.  They are leaders of Turkish government organizations responsible for the arrest and detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson. Brunson has lived in Turkey for more than 20 years.  According to the Treasury Department:

Pastor Andrew Brunson has reportedly been a victim of unfair and unjust detention by the Government of Turkey.  He was arrested in Izmir, Turkey in October 2016, and with an absence of evidence to support the charges, he was accused of aiding armed terrorist organizations and obtaining confidential government information for political and military espionage. 

Vox, reporting on the Treasury Department's action, says that Brunson's case has become a personal issue for President Trump and Vice President Pence, and is important to many Christian evangelicals.  Turkey, however, apparently sees Brunson's case as tied to its attempt to get the U.S. to extradite Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen to Turkey.