Turkish Group Cancels Event at Trump Hotel amid Talks over Pastor’s Fate

Organizers of a Turkish-American business conference that was to take place at a lavish Trump hotel in the capital have canceled the event amid diplomatic talks regarding Pastor Andrew Brunson’s fate.

The president of the American-Turkish Council, Howard Beasey, said the annual event scheduled for later this week was put on hold as he had realized no senior U.S. officials would be willing to attend it. Even though Brunson was released on October 12, organizers didn’t have enough time to get high-level U.S. officials to attend on short notice, he added.

“We were on non-speaking terms, more or less, government-to-government from July until two Fridays ago,” Beasey said.

The event further came under scrutiny due to the venue where it was to take place, with ethics groups raising questions of whether it was appropriate for President Donald Trump’s family to profit from foreign interests while he is in office. According to a number of critics, the cancelation only highlights the many potential ethical entanglements.

Referring to the President’s refusal to divest from his businesses, Jordan Libowitz of the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said Trump “should be held to a higher standard and be beyond reproach, because when it comes to the President, the appearance of conflict of interest is almost as bad as having an actual conflict of interest.”

“How many more cases like this are there where, even if everything was on the level, Americans have to question whether he’s acted in their best interest or his own?” he added, echoing comments by other critics, who have likewise said that Trump’s business interests may interfere with foreign policy decisions.

Despite the cancelation of the three-day event, Beasey said, the Turkish advocacy group will continue its collaboration with the hotel, with which it has a two-year contract. He noted, however, that it had nothing to do with winning influence or currying favor with the current administration, pointing out that the decision to move the annual function to the Trump hotel came before the 2016 election.

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