US Congress and President Trump are outraged over pastor Andrew Brunson’s continued detention. The Izmir court decision will add strain to already troubled ties between Washington and Ankara.
A Turkish court on Wednesday again denied a request to release US pastor Andrew Brunson from prison where he is being held on charges of terrorism and espionage. He is to be kept in jail pending trial.
The case of the American evangelical Christian pastor from North Carolina has added further strain to US-Turkish relations, with some members of US Congress calling for sanctions against Turkey.
Critics of Turkey have described Brunson as a “hostage.”
A total disgrace that Turkey will not release a respected U.S. Pastor, Andrew Brunson, from prison. He has been held hostage far too long. @RT_Erdogan should do something to free this wonderful Christian husband & father. He has done nothing wrong, and his family needs him!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 19, 2018
Gulen and Brunson cases linked
The 50-year-old Brunson has spent nearly two years in prison, accused of links to Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in the United States, and who Ankara accuses of being behind the failed coup attempt of July 2016.
Last year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested Brunson’s release may be tied to the extradition of Gulen from the United States.
Brunson is also accused of ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the EU.
In the court’s third hearing, it was decided to keep the pastor in prison until the next hearing on October 12.
Brunson, who has lived nearly two decades in Turkey and served at a small church in Izmir, denies the charges. He faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted.
Speaking outside the courtroom on Wednesday, US charge d’affaires Philip Kosnett told reporters: “I don’t believe that there is any indication that Pastor Brunson is guilty of any sort of criminal or terrorist activity.”
Currency and political effects
The court decision sent the already troubled Turkish lira tumbling over fears of heightened tensions between Washington and Ankara.
The pastor’s detention has become a major issue for President Trump’s key evangelical constituency in the United States.
Trump, whose political base includes conservative Christians, tweeted in April that Brunson was “on trial and being persecuted in Turkey for no reason.”
US Senators Lindsey Graham and Jeanne Shaheen were in Turkey in June and met with Brunson. They also held talks with Erdogan to press for the pastor’s release.
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In addition to Brunson’s imprisonment, US-Turkish relations have nosedived over American support for Syrian Kurdish forces, Ankara’s plans to buy Russia’s S-400 missile system and human rights concerns.
US Congress has ratcheted up pressure on Turkey over Brunson’s imprisonment and the S-400 deal, threatening to cut NATO ally Turkey out of the international Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II procurement program.
cw/jm (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)