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Turkey: Officials Say Enoys To Go To U.S. For Talks On Black Mountain Pastor

AP/GETTY IMAGES

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish officials say a government delegation will travel to the United States for talks aimed at ending a rift between the NATO allies over the detention of an American pastor.

The United States last week imposed sanctions on two Turkish Cabinet ministers over the treatment of Andrew Brunson, the pastor of an evangelical church in Turkey who is on trial on espionage and terror-related charges.

The dispute caused the Turkish currency to dip to record lows.

The Turkish lira plunged to 5.42 against the dollar Monday before making minor gains on Tuesday.

A government official says the delegation will be led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal. The official provided the information on condition of anonymity in line with government protocol.

Unconfirmed Turkish media reports say Ankara and Washington had reached "pre-agreements" on mending ties.

Matt Bush joined Blue Ridge Public Radio as news director in August 2016. Excited at the opportunity the build up the news service for both stations as well as help launch BPR News, Matt made the jump to Western North Carolina from Washington D.C. For the 8 years prior to coming to Asheville, he worked at the NPR member station in the nation's capital as a reporter and anchor. Matt primarily covered the state of Maryland, including 6 years of covering the statehouse in Annapolis. Prior to that, he worked at WMAL in Washington and Metro Networks in Pittsburgh, the city he was born and raised in.