Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Pastor Andrew Brunson was moved to house arrest last month due to health issues 
 
 The US has imposed sanctions on Turkey's justice and interior ministers over the continued detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson. 
 
 The evangelical from North Carolina has been held for nearly two years over alleged links to political groups. 
 
 "We believe he's a victim of unfair and unjust detention," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said. 
 
 Turkey has said US demands for Mr Brunson's release are "unacceptable", adding it will respond to "hostility". 
 
 "We call on the US administration to row back from this wrong decision," the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. 
 
 "Without delay, there will be a response to this aggressive attitude that will not serve any purpose," it continued. 
 
 The US Treasury Department later said Turkey's Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul and Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu were targeted because they "serve as leaders of Turkish government organizations responsible for implementing Turkey's serious human rights abuses". 
 
 'Nato allies at each other's throats' 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Presidents Trump and Erdogan met at a Nato summit in Brussels last month 
 
 By Mark Lowen, BBC Turkey correspondent 
 
 It is unprecedented for the US to hit a Nato ally with sanctions. The relationship has plunged to its lowest level in decades. 
 
 But it is remarkable to think that in 2016, Turkey's government was gunning for a Donald Trump victory. Michael Flynn, Mr Trump's disgraced former national security advisor, was paid to lobby for Turkey in Washington. There was confidence that presidents Trump and Recep Tayyip Erdogan could form a strongman partnership to reset ties. 
 
 President Erdogan is known for lashing out at Western leaders. He hasn't taken kindly to being the one browbeaten by the US. 
 
 Pro-government columnists are calling for the US military base here to be shut down. A crucial security partnership is at risk with two Nato allies at each other's throats. 
 
 Meanwhile, Turks are suffering as the lira reaches new lows. Erdogan critics say he should have been sanctioned long ago - over mass arrests, human rights violations and buying a missile defence system from Russia. But now sanctions have come, the fear is of what two unpredictable leaders will do next. 
 
 Speaking to reporters, Sarah Sanders said: "We've seen no evidence that Pastor Brunson has done anything wrong." 
 
 She added that the two Turkish ministers had both played "leading roles" in the arrest of the US pastor. 
 
 "As a result, any property or interest in property of both ministers within US jurisdiction is blocked and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them," she said. 
 
 Ms Sanders also said that President Trump had discussed the matter with President Erdogan "multiple times". 
 
 Last week, President Trump warned Turkey it would face "large sanctions" if it did not release Mr Brunson immediately. 
 
 Following Wednesday's announcement, the Turkish lira lost 1.6% of its value to fall to 5.0 against the US dollar. 
 
 Who is Andrew Brunson? 
 
 Mr Brunson is a long-term resident in Turkey. He lived with his wife and three children while working as the pastor of the small Izmir Resurrection Church, which had a congregation of about two dozen. 
 
 The authorities accuse him of having links with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Gulenist movement, which Turkey blames for a 2016 failed coup. 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Turkey has urged the US to extradite Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen 
 
 Mr Brunson has denied charges of espionage, but faces up to 35 years in jail if found guilty. 
 
 He was moved into house arrest last month for health reasons, but US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said this was not enough. 
 
 "We have seen no credible evidence against Mr Brunson," Mr Pompeo tweeted at the time. 
 
 Turkey's foreign ministry said it had shared "necessary information" with the US, but insisted the case should be left with its judiciary. 
 
 What is Turkey's motivation? 
 
 Mr Brunson is one of 20 Americans who were charged after the coup two years ago, according to the New York Times. 
 
 More than 50,000 people were arrested in Turkey in President Erdogan's huge post-coup crackdown. 
 
 He blames Pennsylvania-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen for the attempt, but Mr Gulen denies any involvement. 
 
 Turkey wants the US to agree to his extradition. Mr Erdogan has indicated he would swap the pastor for "the priest" (Mr Gulen). 
 
 US support for Kurdish forces fighting the Syrian civil war has also angered Mr Erdogan, who views them as an extension of the PKK. 
 
 The PKK - a Turkish-Kurdish rebel group fighting for autonomy since the 1980s - is considered a terrorist group by Turkey and the US. ||||| Angered At Pastor's Detention, U.S. Levels Sanctions Against Turkish Officials 
 
 Enlarge this image toggle caption Stringer/AFP/Getty Images Stringer/AFP/Getty Images 
 
 Updated at 5:45 p.m. ET 
 
 The U.S. is imposing sanctions against two high-level Turkish officials, retaliating for what the Treasury Department calls the "unfair and unjust detention" of an American pastor in Izmir. The penalties announced Wednesday, which aim to punish the chiefs of Turkey's ministries of justice and the interior, mark a significant escalation in the recent frictions between the two key NATO allies. 
 
 But they are not altogether unexpected: Both President Trump and Vice President Pence have both lately threatened retaliation over the status of Andrew Brunson, whom Turkish authorities detained in October 2016. He has been charged with engaging in espionage and aiding terrorist groups. 
 
 The 50-year-old evangelical Presbyterian minister, who hails from North Carolina but has spent more than two decades in Turkey, was swept up in Ankara's wide-ranging crackdown after a failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Now under house arrest, Brunson faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted of all charges. 
 
 And on Wednesday the Treasury Department laid blame for his ongoing trial primarily with Abdulhamit Gul, Turkey's justice minister, and Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu. The sanctions against them prohibit U.S. citizens from doing business with both men and block any of their property that rests within American jurisdiction. 
 
 "Pastor Brunson's unjust detention and continued prosecution by Turkish officials is simply unacceptable," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. "President Trump has made it abundantly clear that the United States expects Turkey to release him immediately." 
 
 U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also discussed the matter several times with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, according to State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert. And during a press briefing Tuesday, she noted that Brunson is not the only detained individual they're seeking to get released: She says the State Department has also been advocating on behalf of several locally hired personnel who were also swept up in the arrests after the attempted coup. 
 
 "Turkey knows our position well," she said Wednesday. "This has gone on far too long." 
 
 The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs promised Wednesday to retaliate with "an equivalent response" if the U.S. does not walk back "this wrong decision." 
 
 "There is no doubt that the decision, which disrespectfully intervenes with our judicial system, stands in contrast to the essence of our relations and will seriously damage the constructive efforts made in order to resolve problems between the two countries," the ministry added. 
 
 In a tweet translated by the state-run Anadolu news agency, Cavusoglu also vowed that the "US attempt to impose sanctions on our two ministers will not go unanswered." 
 
 Faced with pressure from U.S. officials last year, Erdogan suggested Brunson's release may depend on U.S. compliance with one of his own demands: the extradition of elderly Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan has repeatedly accused of organizing the 2016 coup from his compound in Pennsylvania, despite Gulen's denials. 
 
 ""You have a pastor too," Erdogan said then. "You give us that one and we'll work with our judiciary and give back yours." 
 
 U.S. officials, for their part, show no inclination to accede to their NATO ally's demand, either. And they have had lawmakers' bipartisan backing in the campaign to obtain Brunson's release. 
 
 "Our fellow citizens aren't bargaining chips," Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said in a statement applauding the sanctions Wednesday. "Pastor Brunson is an innocent man. Turkey's charges are completely unjust and these new sanctions are absolutely warranted. President Erdogan ought to know that the United States expects more from a member of NATO. Free Pastor Brunson now."
– President Trump has made good on his threat to hit Turkey with sanctions if American pastor Andrew Brunson wasn't freed. The country's justice minister and interior minister, Abdulhamit Gul and Suleyman Soylu, have been sanctioned over what White House press secretary Sarah Sanders describes as the "unfair and unjust detention" of the North Carolina pastor and longtime Turkey resident, who was jailed for around two years before being shifted to house arrest last month, the BBC reports. Brunson was charged with espionage and aiding terrorist groups in the 2016 crackdown that followed a failed coup and faces up to 35 years if convicted on all counts. Sanders said that the sanctions on the NATO ally came after Trump discussed the matter with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan "many times." Turkish officials vowed that the sanctions, which ban American companies and individuals from doing business with the men, would not go unanswered, NPR reports. Turkey's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the move "disrespectfully intervenes with our judicial system, stands in contrast to the essence of our relations, and will seriously damage the constructive efforts made in order to resolve problems between the two countries." The ministry said Turkey would deliver "an equivalent response" if the US didn't walk back its "wrong decision."