Witness says U.S. pastor helping Kurdish militants

ANKARA,TURKEY— A witness testifying anonymously against a U.S. pastor accused of spying and terror-related charges in Turkey claimed Monday that the American helped Kurdish militants and aimed tocreateachristiankurdishstate, the country’s state-run news agency reported.

Pastor Andrew Craig Brunson forcefully rejected the claim in the second session of his trial, insisting that he never permitted “politics to enter the church,” the Anadolu Agency reported.

The 50-year-old evangelical pastor from Black Mountain, North Carolina, faces up 35 years in prison in Turkey.

He denies any wrongdoing. Brunson was arrested in the aftermath of a 2016 coup attempt in Turkey for alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, as well as a network led by U.s.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is blamed by Turkey for the political unrest. Gulen denies any knowledge of the failed coup.

Anadolu said a “secret witness” — described as a former parishioner and codenamed “Serhat” — testified via a long-distance system and claimed that Brunson helped Kurdish militants in various ways, including those fighting in Syria.

Brunson later requested his release from jail, saying he wanted “to go home,” Hurriyet newspaper reported.

The court adjourned the trial until July 18 and ruled that he remain in jail.

The Trump administration has warned Turkey that it is considering punitive “consequences” if the NATO ally does not throw out the charges or acquit Brunson.