Turkey’s president says country will not back down if the United States imposes sanctions in a diplomatic dispute involving an arrested American pastor.

Speaking privately to journalists late Saturday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan broke his silence on the crisis: “They cannot make Turkey back down with sanctions.”

On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced possible sanctions against Turkey, a crucial NATO ally, in retaliation for the treatment of Andrew Craig Brunson, who was detained in the aftermath of a failed 2016 coup against Turkey’s government.

Brunson denies the charges.

Erdogan claimed that he “never used Brunson as a bargaining chip” — but he had previously linked Brunson’s return to the U.S. extradition of cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara holds responsible for the failed coup. Gulen denies involvement in the coup attempt.

(AP)