Bill at US Senate Proposing ‘Financial Limitation on Turkey’

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Six US senators introduced a bill at US Senate that limits Turkey to borrow from international financial institutions except humanitarian aid until “Turkey end unjust detention of US citizens” on Thursday (July 18).

According to a report by Reuters, the senators took this decision right after İzmir 2nd Heavy Penal Court ruling continuation of detention of US Pastor Andrew Craig Brunson on Wednesday.

“Including dual citizens”

It was stated in the statement the limitation should continue until “Turkey is no longer arbitrarily detaining or denying freedom of movement to United States citizens (including dual citizens) or locally employed staff members of the United States mission to Turkey.”

In its report, Reuters stressed that Pastor Brunson has been residing in Turkey for almost 20 years and he is facing up to 35 years in jail.

Among the detainees accused of being “Fethullahist Terrorist Organization” member are US citizen Serkan Gölge, who was working for the NASA, and Metin Topuz, who was working at US Consulate General in İstanbul.

“Turkey has around 2 billion dollars debt”

Concerning Turkey’s debt, the bill stated, “Turkey relies heavily on loans from both the  the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). In 2017, Turkey ranked second among all IFC recipients with $927 million in new long-term commitments. Turkey was the largest EBRD borrower in 2017, securing about $1.8 billion in new commitments”. (PT/TK)