U.S. pastor to go on trial for alleged terror ties, spying
ISTANBUL >> An American pastor imprisoned in Turkey is going on trial for alleged terror ties and spying in a case that has increased tensions between Washington and Ankara.
Andrew Craig Brunson, an evangelical pastor from North Carolina, is facing 35 years in prison on charges of “committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member” and “espionage.” The trial begins Monday in western Izmir province.
He was arrested in December 2016 for alleged links to both an outlawed Kurdish insurgent group and the network of the U.S.based Muslim cleric who Turkey blames for a masterminding a failed military coup that year. The cleric, Fethullah Gulen, denies the claim.
Brunson has denied all allegations and maintains that he solely worked as a pastor
American officials have repeatedly requested that Brunson be released. In a meeting last year with his Turkish counterpart, President Donald Trump asked that the government “expeditiously” return the pastor to the U.S. But the appeals have not made much headway.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan fired back at Washington in September, demanding that the U.S. first return Gulen.
“You give him to us and we’ll give you this one,” he said, referring to Brunson. Turkey has submitted an extradition request to the U.S. for Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, but so far it not been granted — a point that festers in the Turkish government, which has hunted down tens of thousands of alleged Gulen supporters and either imprisoned them or fired them from government jobs.
Brunson, 50, has been living in Turkey for 23 years and served as the pastor of Izmir Resurrection Church with a small Protestant congregation. The pastor was first detained in October 2016 with his wife, Norine Brunson, who was later released.