U.S. Congress
Reports
[Andrew] Brunson has really emerged as a bilateral irritant [between Turkey and the United States. His continued imprisonment by Turkey, despite personal appeals from U.S. lawmakers, is] seen as a real slap in the face to Congress... [Erdogan] has been frankly engaging in hostage diplomacy where he’s saying ‘you give me my cleric and I’ll give you yours.'
There’s a mood in Congress that has been growing in the last few months to do something punitive towards Turkey. That’s going to escalate now [following a Turkish court order to continue the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson].