ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Monday that the United States wanted to use the trial in New York of a Turkish gold trader to impose sanctions on Ankara.

In an interview with broadcaster Kanal24, Bozdag also said that the United States had pressured the trader, Reza Zarrab, to sign off on accusations against Turkey.

“They may have told Zarrab, ‘Either you will remain in prison until you die, or you will sign under what we tell you,’ and they threatened him with retributions to sign off on accusations,” Bozdag said.