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Washington – Vice President Mike Pence took advantage of a summit of foreign ministers and religious leaders from the state department to ask Turkey to release US pastor Andrew Brunson and threaten him with sanctions. does not take immediate action to release this man of innocent faith and send him back to America, the United States will impose significant sanctions on Turkey until Pastor Andrew Brunson is free, "he said. the vice president on July 26. was released from prison and placed under house arrest.
The official Turkish news agency Anadolu said that Mr. Brunson had been allowed to leave the prison after a year and a half because of "health problems." The 50-year-old man lived in Turkey for 23 years and served as pastor of the resurrection church of Izmir.
Pence asked the "Believers Across America" to pray for Brunson, who was charged with "dividing and separating" the majority – Muslim country as he spread his Christian faith.
"To President Erdogan and the Turkish Government , I have a message on behalf of the President of the United States of America: free the pastor Andrew Brunson or be ready to face the consequences "
Pence's remarks about Brunson drew several applause, as well as a" Whoo! "Someone in the public." Ralph Reed, one of the many informal evangelical advisers to President Trump, applauded and applauded
The Turkish Foreign Minister replied in a tweet: "We do not will never tolerate the threats of anyone, the rule of law is for everyone.
Turkey did not send representatives to the three-day ministerial meeting, which ends on Thursday and attracted some 350 government officials, religious freedom advocates and others from more than 80 nations
. According to its organizers, the gathering of this kind in the State Department aimed to develop "concrete ways" to reduce religious persecution around the world. Among the victims of religious persecution and their relatives who spoke at the summit, there was Brunson's daughter, Jacqueline Furnari, and a Uyghur Muslim who left China for the United States to leave his area "living in l & # 39; horror ".
who spoke for more than half an hour, said that 83 percent of the world's population lives in a nation where a religious practice or belief is prohibited or threatened.
He cited the Nicaraguan government of President Daniel Ortega Catholic Church, "the torture of Tibetan Buddhists in China, the forced abortions and the ban on the Christian Bible in North Korea and the imprisonment of Witnesses of Jehovah by Russia. "
Pence noted that some free societies, as in Europe, are also sites "Only 70 years after the Holocaust, attacks on Jews, even against aging Holocaust survivors, are increasing at an alarming rate, "said the vice president.
Pence, AL In collaboration with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, he listed several new initiatives to further the goals of the summit, which will become an annual event.
Pence said that the United States is launching a program to restore genocide and persecution. The US Agency for International Development will help persecuted people and households.
"The Americas will help ISIS victims recover their lands, rebuild their lives and replant their roots in their ancient homelands so that all religions can flourish. Pompeo, who introduced Pence, also addressed the reconstruction of religious communities in Iraq that have been devastated by the so-called Islamic State, also known as Daesh. He said his department will provide an additional $ 17 million to help clear landmines in the area around the Iraqi city of Nineveh, adding to the $ 90 million already spent in the country this year.
Other initiatives included a leadership program for those on the "front lines of religious freedom issues" in the United States; a workshop, scheduled for October, to support private / public partnerships defending religious freedom; and regional summit conferences in several countries.
Pence also announced a new International Fund for Religious Freedom to help persecuted religious minorities, and he asked other nations to join the United States in supporting him. A ministerial document describing the fund indicated that the US government would cover its staff and administrative costs, leaving all other donations for activities such as awareness campaigns and initiatives for conflict prevention.
Pence and Pompeo reflected on their own faith. the administration would be attached to the rights of people of all faiths.
"My own faith is of utmost importance to me personally," said Pompeo. "As an American, I have had the right to live what I believe without fear of persecution or reprisals from my government, and I wish all others to enjoy this blessing. "
advances religious freedom in our foreign policy because it is not exclusively an American right, it is a universal right given by God to all humanity. "
Pence concluded his remarks by pointing out that one verse of the Book of Leviticus of the Hebrew Bible -" Proclaiming Freedom throughout the land, and to [all] its inhabitants "- is engraved in the bell of freedom. "
" As the Bible tells us, "Where is the spirit of the Lord, there is freedom," said the vice president. "So freedom always wins when faith in him is high."
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