Sanctions imposed by the United States on Turkey are shattering the US’s reputation, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu warned on Tuesday, the Hürriyet Daily News reported.
“The era of bullying must end,” Çavuşoğlu said during a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, at the 10th Ambassadors Conference in Ankara.
“If the US wants to continue being a reputable country, it cannot do so with these impositions,” he said, referring to the sanctions.
“We are against the US or any country imposing sanctions,” he added.
For his part, Lavrov said that the US’s “unlawful and illegitimate” sanctions policy cannot last for long.
The five-day ambassadors’ conference is hosting 249 Turkish ambassadors and two chargé d’affaires as well as a number of foreign diplomats.
Turkey and the US are currently experiencing rocky relations following Washington’s imposition of sanctions on two government ministers in retaliation for Turkey’s failure to release American pastor Andrew Brunson, who faces terrorism-related charges in Turkey.
The lira plunged against the dollar as the row intensified, losing more than 40 percent of its value this year. Speaking after US President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum imports, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said an economic war was being waged against Turkey, Reuters reported.