Posted on 10/12/2018 7:03:26 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
American pastor Andrew Brunson, who was swept up in a wave of arrests in the wake a failed coup attempt in Turkey, was released on Friday, easing a major controversy between the United States and the NATO ally.
A judge ordered Brunson's release as part of a reported deal in which President Trump will ease economic pressure on President Recep Tayyip Erdogans country. Turkey is not dropping the case against Brunson. The prosecutor demanded up to 10 years in prison for terror charges, a pro-government outlet reported, but Brunson will be allowed to leave the country.
The Second High Criminal Court in western Izmir province on Friday ruled for American pastor Andrew Craig Brunson to be sentenced to three years, one month and 15 days in prison, but said he will not spend anymore time in custody because of the time he has already served, Daily Sabah reported.
Trump tweeted in support of Brunson's release Friday morning.
The Trump administration has made Brunsons case a top priority for the U.S.-Turkey relationship. Erdogan had hoped to exchange Brunson for Pennsylvania-based cleric Fetullah Gulen, whom he has accused of orchestrating the 2016 coup attempt, but the pastors detention instead served to stoke U.S. frustration with Turkeys lurch toward authoritarian rule.
There is no credible evidence against him, Vice President Mike Pence said at a summit on religious freedom in July. "If Turkey does not take immediate action to free this innocent man of faith and send him home to America, the United States will impose significant sanctions on Turkey until Pastor Andrew Brunson is free.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
Could not believe it, Fox just had Dem Sen. Shaheen talking about the release of the pastor. It was all Trump’s doing he should get the credit.
Bump!
Reminds me of when early in the term Pres. Trump personally secured the release of an Egyptian-American woman imprisoned in Egypt.
***The Turkish government suspected a cleric living in Pennsylvania as the mastermind behind the coup. They used Pastor Brunson as leverage to force the USA to extradite this cleric.***
Fethullah Gülen hasn’t been extradited. Is the August hearing still dragging on/continuance?
I gave this about zero chance of happening. But SHAME on me for not having faith in the best, winningest president this country has EVER had!
Yay! More winning.
That’s a classical guitar. Among other things, I bet he can’t wait to play it again.
Go Trump
Too much winning !!!
I can’t take it anymore Mr. President !!!
I think it is that simple.
And still kick their asses once he’s home. Turkey could use a good ass kickin
...
"Pence said at a summit on religious freedom in July. "If Turkey does not take immediate action to free this innocent man of faith and send him home to America, the United States will impose significant sanctions on Turkey until Pastor Andrew Brunson is free.
The administration subsequently imposed sanctions on two senior Turkish officials. Trump also tweeted that he had authorized a doubling of steel and aluminum tariffs on the NATO ally. Erdogan accused the United States of waging economic war on his government, but the Turkish currencys value had been plummeting even before Trumps slap.
msm will probably report this as "ransom", however, the economic pressure was brought on by Brunson's arrest and is why we have this result.
Kudos to President Trump and Vice-President Pence.
You are correct. The Democrat Media will not praise them.
None, but President Trump put tariffs on their steel and aluminum exports and made our displeasure known in other financial ways. Instead of ransoms, Trump gives them the back of his hand, which is the way we should treat petty dictators (even "elected" ones) who treat our citizens badly.
Pence is a brother in Christ. That’s a strong bond.
Great! Here we go again. More winning. How long will this continue?
More winning!!!!!
Whoo hoo!!!!!
The timing of the release may be significant. Turkey’s relations with Saudi Arabia have hit a new low following the disappearance and presumed murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. They haven’t been very good with the U.S., either, even though Turkey is a nominal Western ally and member of NATO.
Saudi Arabia is in the way of Turkey’s hegemonic designs on the region. Erdogan hopes to improve relations with the U.S. and drive a wedge between Washington and Riyadh, giving the Turkish president more leverage on other Gulf States in the region.
Wasn’t Jay Sekelow and Pence trying to help in this one?
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