Detained US pastor’s lawyer lodges appeal at Turkey constitutional court
A lawyer for the US clergyman whose two-year detention in Turkey led to a row with Washington, yesterday said he had appealed to the constitutional court for the pastor’s release.
Pastor Andrew Brunson has been under house arrest at his home in the western city of Izmir since July, and was previously held in jail after being detained in October 2016 on terrorism-related charges.
His lawyer, Cem Halavurt, said that he had applied to the court on Tuesday, although he had previously said he would apply yesterday morning.
The next hearing in Mr Brunson’s case is on October 12 and there are hopes he will be permitted to return to the US.
Mr Halavurt said the constitutional court “procedure can take a few months” after making the application via a court in Istanbul.
Mr Brunson, who ran a small evangelical Protestant church in Izmir and has lived in Turkey since 1993, is at the centre of tensions between Ankara and Washington.
He faces up to 35 years in jail if convicted on charges of carrying out activities on behalf of two groups deemed by Turkey to be terrorist organisations – one led by US-based Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara says was behind the failed 2016 coup; and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
US officials insist he is innocent of all charges.
Relations were further strained after he was put under house arrest and Washington’s decision to impose sanctions on two Turkish ministers, and double steel and aluminium tariffs in August, sparking a dramatic fall in the value of the Turkish lira.
But there are signs that tensions could ease after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he was hopeful Turkey would release the pastor, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday said he hoped Ankara could rebuild ties with its Nato ally.
On Tuesday, a Turkish court upheld life terms for journalist Ahmet Altan and five others, the Anadolu news agency said, after they were sentenced on charges of aiding plotters of the 2016 coup.