*ANKARA: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said Turkey wouldimpose sanctions on two US officials as retaliation for a similar move byWashington, hitting back in an unprecedented row between the NATO allies.*

Turkey’s holding of pastor Andrew Brunson on terror-related charges foralmost two years has sparked one of the most intense crises betweenWashington and Ankara.

But in his first comments on the dispute since Washington imposed thesanctions on Wednesday, Erdogan also appeared keen to ward off any furtherescalation by saying that neither side had an interest in a “lose-lose”scenario.

“Today I will give our friends instructions to freeze the assets in Turkeyof the American justice and interior ministers, if they have any (suchassets),” Erdogan said in a televised speech.

He did not specify to which members of the US administration he wasreferring.

The US attorney general is Jeff Sessions and while the United States doesnot have an interior ministry similar to Turkey, the Secretary of theInterior is Ryan Zinke and Secretary of the Department of Homeland Securityis Kirstjen Nielsen.*‘Intense diplomacy’*

Erdogan’s announcement was a response to Washington’s decision to imposesanctions on Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu and Justice MinisterAbdulhamit Gul over Brunson’s detention.

The sanctions freeze any property or assets on US soil held by the twoministers, and bar US citizens from doing business with them.

Turkish ministers have denied having any assets in the US and it is highlyunlikely the American officials would have assets in Turkey. But analystssay the sanctions are still of critical importance.

“Although it is unlikely the sanctions will have much practical effect ineither case, it is significant and unprecedented that two NATO allies havesanctioned members of each other’s government,” Amanda Sloat, a formerState Department official and now a senior fellow at the BrookingsInstitution, told AFP. – APP/AFP