</s>Andrew Brunson, a Christian pastor from North Carolina, U.S. who has been in jail in Turkey since December 2016, is seen in this undated picture taken in Izmir, Turkey. Depo Photos via REUTERS

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said the United States should look at its own actions if it wants the return of an American Christian pastor who has been jailed in Turkey for suspected links to a 2016 failed coup.

Erdogan made the comment in a live interview with broadcaster NTV.

Andrew Brunson, who has lived in Turkey for more than two decades, was indicted on charges of helping the group that Ankara holds responsible for the failed coup against Erdogan. He faces up to 35 years in prison. Brunson denies the charges.

Erdogan has previously linked Brunson's fate to that of the cleric Fethullah Gulen, the Muslim cleric Turkey blames for the coup attempt. Gulen has lived in the United States since 1999 and denies the charges. Turkey is seeking his extradition from the United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump and dozens of U.S. senators have urged Erdogan to release Brunson.</s>ISTANBUL (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said the United States should look at its own actions if it wants the return of an American Christian pastor who has been jailed in Turkey for suspected links to a 2016 failed coup.

Turkey's Erdogan says U.S. should look at its own actions if it wants jailed pastor freed

Erdogan made the comment in a live interview with broadcaster NTV.

 Andrew Brunson, who has lived in Turkey for more than two decades, was indicted on charges of helping the group that Ankara holds responsible for the failed coup against Erdogan. He faces up to 35 years in prison. Brunson denies the charges.

 Erdogan has previously linked Brunson's fate to that of the cleric Fethullah Gulen, the Muslim cleric Turkey blames for the coup attempt. Gulen has lived in the United States since 1999 and denies the charges. Turkey is seeking his extradition from the United States.

 U.S. President Donald Trump and dozens of U.S. senators have urged Erdogan to release Brunson. 

 

 

 (Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Gareth Jones)</s>Turkish President Recep Erdogan has responded to the ongoing calls by Christian groups and U.S. President Donald Trump that he release imprisoned U.S. Pastor Andrew Brunson.

Referring to demands he has made in the past, Erdogan said Saturday that Brunson's fate is directly tied with the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric living in Pennsylvania who is accused by the Turkish government of staging a failed military coup in the country in 2016.

"The U.S. is behind [Gulen]," Erdogan told Turkish television news channel NTV, according to Sputnik News on Sunday.

He added that "if you want Brunson, look at the steps you have taken in the past. Why don't you deport this man in accordance with the extradition treaty?"

The United States has so far refused to extradite Gulen, but has insisted that Turkey hand over Brunson, who is facing up to 35 years in prison if convicted of espionage and terrorism charges.

"Pastor Andrew Brunson, a fine gentleman and Christian leader in the United States, is on trial and being persecuted in Turkey for no reason," Trump tweeted last week.

"They call him a Spy, but I am more a Spy than he is. Hopefully he will be allowed to come home to his beautiful family where he belongs!"

Brunson, who served at a small Protestant church in Izmir for 23 years before he was arrested in October 2016, has firmly denied he was involved in any illegal activities, insisting his only goal was ministering to people.

The pastor, who is from North Carolina, said at the start of his trial last week that he is ready to fight for his name to be cleared.

"I want the whole truth to be revealed. I reject all the accusations in the indictment. I haven't been involved in any illegal activity," Brunson told the court.

"I haven't done anything against Turkey. On the contrary, I love Turkey. I have been praying for Turkey for 25 years," he added.

As many as 66 U.S. Senators sent a letter to Erdogan last week demanding the immediate release of Brunson, accusing the Turkish government of holding him in prison without presenting any evidence of its accusations.

Sens. James Lankford, a Republican from Oklahoma, and Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire, said in a Thursday joint statement:

"Turkish President Erdogan has continued to violate the trust between our two nations by holding Pastor Brunson and other innocent Americans behind bars on fabricated charges."

They continued: "Turkish officials who participate in the detainment of any innocent American citizen should face international consequences, and the actions against Pastor Brunson, in particular, qualify as hostage-taking."</s>ISTANBUL — A bipartisan group of 66 senators is threatening Turkey with “measures” after an American pastor was put on trial accused of terrorism links and espionage.

North Carolina native Andrew Brunson, 50, has been jailed since October 2016. If found guilty, he faces up to 35 years in prison.

Brunson ran a Protestant church in southwestern Turkey and has lived in the country for more than two decades.

When his trial began Monday, Brunson denied the charges. “I’ve never done something against Turkey," he said. "I love Turkey. I’ve been praying for Turkey for 25 years."

In a letter to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seen by NBC News, the senators describe the indictment detailing the allegations against the evangelical pastor as "an absurd collection of anonymous accusations, flights of fantasy, and random character assassination."

It suggested that Brunson was being used as a “political pawn by elements of the Turkish government bent on destroying the longstanding partnership between two great nations."

The letter added that U.S. government had been "patient in the hope that justice would be done" and Brunson would be freed. However, the 66 senators say they now have “concluded that other measures will be necessary to ensure that the government of Turkey respects the right of law-abiding citizens and employees of the United States to travel to, reside in, and work in Turkey without fear of persecution.”

The letter's signatories include Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who attended the first day of Brunson's trial.

In September, Erdogan hinted that Brunson would be returned to the U.S. if Washington extradited Pennsylvania-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. Ankara blames Gulen for Turkey's deadly 2016 coup attempt, but he denies any involvement.

Brunson is accused of having links to supporters of Gulen.

On Thursday, Republican Sen. James Lankford and Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who also signed the letter, said they would renew their push for sanctions targeting Turkish officials. They called the charges against Brunson "fabricated" and likened his imprisonment to "hostage-taking."

President Donald Trump earlier this week tweeted his support for Brunson, alleging that the pastor was “being persecuted in Turkey for no reason.”

Speaking before the trial, Brunson’s daughter, Jacqueline Furnari, told NBC News her father has been relieved by the high-level attention his case has received.

“My family is just happy this case is moving [forward],” she said. “Could this drag on for a long time? That’s also a possibility. We just don’t know what the outcome will be.”</s>Andrew Brunson, a Christian pastor from North Carolina, U.S. who has been in jail in Turkey since December 2016, is seen in this undated picture taken in Izmir Thomson Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sixty-six U.S. senators signed a letter released on Friday urging Turkey President Tayyip Erdogan to release an American pastor on trial in Turkey on charges he was linked to a group accused of orchestrating a failed military coup.

Andrew Brunson, a Christian pastor who has lived in Turkey for more than two decades, was indicted on charges of helping the group that Ankara holds responsible for a failed 2016 coup against President Tayyip Erdogan. He faces up to 35 years in prison.

The letter, led by Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who represents Brunson's home state North Carolina, and Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, said the Senate backs efforts to strengthen cooperation between U.S. and Turkish law enforcement.

"However, we are deeply disturbed that the Turkish government has gone beyond legitimate action against the coup plotters to undermine Turkey's own rule of law and democratic traditions," it said.

U.S. President Donald Trump also voiced his support for Brunson on Twitter this week, writing, "They call him a spy, but I am more a spy than he is."

The senators warned that unspecified measures might be necessary to ensure the Turkish government "respects the rights of law-abiding citizens" of the United States to be in Turkey without the fear of prosecution.

Brunson's trial is one of several legal cases roiling U.S.-Turkish relations. The two countries are also at odds over U.S. support for a Kurdish militia in northern Syria that Turkey considers a terrorist organization.

Washington has called for Brunson's release while Erdogan suggested last year his fate could be linked to that of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whose extradition Ankara has repeatedly sought to face charges over the coup attempt.

Overall, the letter was signed by 43 Republicans and 23 Democrats.</s>President Trump rebukes Turkey over Pastor Brunson. ACLJ: Pastor Brunson has been moved to a better jail.</s>Congress is prepared to sanction Turkey if the NATO ally does not release an American missionary jailed since October 2016 on what Washington contends are trumped-up charges.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., explained in a Fox News interview Friday that Andrew Brunson had been doing humanitarian work in the country for 23 years, renewing his visa periodically with no problems. But in October 2016, he was swept up in a crackdown by the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after a failed coup attempt.

“We need to forcibly respond,” the senator said.

Lankford told Fox News U.S. officials believe Brunson was caught in the crackdown by accident, but now Turkey has accused him of aiding the coup attempt, without any evidence, apparently to gain “some sort of leverage against the United States.”

“What we need to do is impose sanctions against the individual judges, the individual prosecutors, against the individuals and Ankara’s government that are actually holding an American with trumped up charges – for a year with no charges at all,” the senator said.

Lankford said he met with Turkey’s minister of justice in 2016, who had filed no charges at that point. The government took more than a year to press charges.

Brunson, 50, appeared in court on Monday in the first phase of his trial in the Aegean Sea town of Aliaga. In attendance were Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who represents Brunson’s home state of North Carolina, and Sam Brownback, the former Kansas senator and governor, and the current U.S. ambassador at large for religious freedom. The next court date is May 7.

Brunson is accused of aiding a group led by Fethullah Gulen, an exiled Muslim preacher who Turkish authorities allege was behind the failed 2016 coup. Gulen now lives in Pennsylvania, and it’s believed Erdogan ordered Brunson jailed to use him as a bargaining chip to secure Gulen’s extradition.

Lankford insisted the charge is absurd, arguing Gulen and Brunson “are completely unconnected.”

“Why a Christian pastor would be connected to a Muslim mystic, I have no idea, and this pastor has no idea,” he said.

Brunson explained why he has lived in Turkey for a quarter of a century.

“I’ve never done something against Turkey. I love Turkey. I’ve been praying for Turkey for 25 years. I want truth to come out,” he said, according to Reuters. “I do not accept the charges mentioned in the indictment. I was never involved in any illegal activities.”

Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, said that after the hearing, instead of being returned to the prison where he had been held most recently, the judge ordered Brunson to be taken to “an overcrowded and extremely grim prison” where he was held initially.

The next three weeks prior to the May 7 court date, said Sekulow, who is advocating for Brunson’s release, are critical for the pastor.

Sekulow said Brunson is “on trial because of his Christian faith, noting the 62-page indictment accuses him of “Christianization,” calling it an act of terror.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said after Monday’s hearing that the U.S. government “has seen no credible evidence that Mr. Brunson is guilty of a crime and are convinced that he is innocent.”

“We hope that the judicial system in Turkey will resolve his case in a timely, fair and transparent manner,” she said.

Tillis spoke with reporters after the hearing.

“We are very disappointed. If anything, I think the information that has been presented today creates a more compelling reason why he is innocent,” he said, reported Agence France-Presse.

Tillis also went to Turkey in March to meet with Brunson after hearing the pastor was “really concerned that maybe the American people would look at the indictment and believe it and forget him.”

“It was important for me to go over there, face-to-face visit him in prison and tell him that that’s not going to happen,” Tillis told the Charlotte Observer.

Relations between the U.S. and Turkey have been on edge over American backing for a Kurdish militia in Syria that Turkey has declared to be a terrorist group.

President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have called attention to Brunson’s plight.</s>Tennessee Republican Bob Corker and 65 of his Senate colleagues demanded that the Turkish government release American pastor Andrew Brunson, who is imprisoned in the country while on trial for alleged connections to terrorist groups and espionage.

"The United States Government, and millions of Americans deeply concerned by the Brunson case, have been patient, in the hope that justice would be done and Pastor Brunson would be reunited with his family,” the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee wrote in the letter to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed by the bipartisan group and released Friday.

“The signatories of this letter have concluded that other measures will be necessary to ensure that the Government of Turkey respects the right of law-abiding citizens and employees of the United States to travel to, reside in, and work in Turkey without fear of persecution,” the letter states.

According to an NBC News report, Brunson faces up to 35 years in prison for allegedly having links to a militant group the U.S. and its NATO ally Turkey consider a terrorist organization and for allegedly communicating sensitive information during a failed July 2016 coup. Brunson has denied the charges, which the senators write are based on an "absurd collection of anonymous accusations, flights of fantasy, and random character assassination."

President Donald Trump addressed the matter on April 17, tweeting that Brunson is a "fine gentleman" who is being persecuted for no reason.

"They call him a Spy, but I am more a Spy than he is," the president wrote on Twitter. "Hopefully he will be allowed to come home to his beautiful family where he belongs!"

Sen. Thom Tillis traveled to Turkey for part of the trial and spoke with Brunson, who the North Carolina Republican said is afraid that his case will be forgotten.

“I heard that he was really concerned that maybe the American people would look at the indictment and believe it and forget him,” Tillis told the Raleigh News & Observer . “It was important for me to go over there, face-to-face visit him in prison and tell him that that’s not going to happen.”

Erdogan has reportedly floated a trade of Brunson for Fethullah Gülen, an exiled Islamic preacher living in Pennsylvania who the Turkish leader blamed for the coup attempt. Tillis called such a deal "absurd."</s>Republican lawmaker from Oklahoma is fighting for the return of an American pastor charged with terrorism in Turkey. Also, Lankford says Pompeo should be confirmed by the Senate.
The United States warns Turkey of consequences if pastor Andrew Brunson isn't freed.