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The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration understood that there was an agreement in place for the release of Pastor Andrew Brunson. All sources of the Trump administration were cited anonymously. Reports say that in return for Brunson's release, Trump would help release Ebru Ozkan, a Turkish national arrested in Israel in June for alleged links with Hamas.
On July 15, Israel deported Ozkan after a personal trial. Trump's appeal to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, says the article. Ozkan had been charged with smuggling as part of Hamas money laundering.
Turkish officials denied that such an agreement linked Ozhan's case to Brunson's case. Several media outlets in Turkey say the agreement in question involved Mehmet Hakan Atilla, a Turkish banker with close ties to the Erdogan government. Atilla was convicted earlier this year of bank fraud in a plan to help Iran escape US sanctions. In May, he was sentenced to 32 months in prison
Murat Yekin, in the Hürriyet Daily News argues that this scenario is unlikely because the cases Atilla and Ozkan do not recall the accusations of Brunson either. He writes: "The level of importance attached to the Brunson affair by Trump and Erdoğan is high; much higher than the trading chips alleged by the US and Turkish media. "
The implication is the continued liaison of the Brunson case to Turkey's requests for extradition of Fethullah Gülen that they accuse of orchestrating the coup d'etat. 39 State of 2016 against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan The United States has so far resisted calls for extradition on the grounds that sufficient evidence against Gülen still has to be presented by the Turkish government. founder of the global movement Hizmet or Service, currently resides in exile in Pennsylvania.
Yekin quotes Erdogan, "The change of attitude [since the fist-bump in Brussels] is the problem of Trump. We do not find it correct that those [remarks] that were not spoken were presented as if they were there. A request had been made by our Minister of Foreign Affairs for the release of Ebru Özkan. Ebru had already been released by [Israeli authorities] before, but his pbadport had not been returned to him. We told the Americans that they could help him by returning [the Israelis] his pbadport. We did not say, "We'll give Brunson back." There was no such negotiation. Netanyahu's statement was "Trump made a call and we released him."
The Washington Post quoting a Trump advisor, noted that Turkey had "raised the bar" before releasing Brunson. Regardless of the claims, the evidence suggests that such an agreement has collapsed as a result of the sanctions threatened against Turkey by President Trump and Vice President Pence.
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