President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed Saturday to defy US “threats” over a detained pastor, showing no signs of concessions in a bitter row that has caused the Turkish lira to crash. Relations between the two NATO allies have sunk to their lowest point in decades over a string of issues including the detention of US pastor Andrew Brunson on terror-related charges, prompting the lira to hit record lows against the dollar. The Turkish strongman also lashed out at interest rates, denounced them as a “tool of exploitation” which should be kept as low as possible. The embattled lira tumbled 16 percent against the dollar on Friday, falling further when US President Donald Trump said he had doubled steel and aluminium tariffs on Turkey. “It is wrong to dare bring Turkey to its knees through threats over a pastor,” Erdogan said in the Black Sea town of Unye. “Shame on you, shame on you,” he said in remarks directly addressed to Washington. “You are exchanging your strategic partner in NATO for a priest.” Trump announced the punitive doubling of tariffs on Twitter, with the White House saying the sanctions would take effect from August 13. Published in Daily Times, August 12th 2018.