The US late on August 1 hit two Turkish ministers with sanctions over the pastor Brunson affair sending the Turkish lira (TRY) past the psychogically unsettling level of five to the dollar and causing analysts to wonder whether this will be the straw that breaks the camel's back in sending Turkey into a currency-and-debt crisis. The sanctions target Minister of Justice Abdulhamit Gul and Minister of Interior Suleyman Soylu. The US Treasury said in a statement that they both "played leading roles in the organizations responsible for the arrest and detention of Pastor Andrew Brunson". It is unprecedented for the US to hit a fellow Nato member with such sanctions. "Just trying to remind myself that the US and Turkey are supposed still to be allies," said BlueBay Asset Management strategist Timothy Ash, adding in a note: "Guess this also shows that Turkey thought its strategic position in Nato counted for something—[Donald] Trump just re-affirmed, he does not care about Nato—its expendable.