U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen listens as U.S. President Donald Trump holds an Oval Office meeting on preparations for hurricane Florence at the White House in Washington, U.S., September 11, 2018.  REUTERS/Leah Millis

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey lifted sanctions on Friday on the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security and Attorney General, the foreign ministry said, minutes after Washington removed two Turkish ministers from its sanctions list. 

The ministry said in a statement the sanctions on Kirstjen Nielsen and Jeff Sessions, which include a travel ban into the country and freezing of assets in Turkey, had been lifted in response to the U.S. move. 

The United States had imposed sanctions on Turkey’s justice and interior ministers in August over Turkey’s detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson, who was released last month.