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A US pastor's attorney whose two-year detention in Turkey gave rise to a bitter dispute with Washington said on Wednesday that he had appealed to the constitutional court to obtain the American's release.
Pastor Andrew Brunson has been under house arrest at his home in Izmir, in the west of the country, since July. He had already been imprisoned after being arrested in October 2016 on terrorism-related charges.
His lawyer, Cem Halavurt, said AFP that he had gone to court Tuesday afternoon, although he had previously announced that he would do so on Wednesday morning.
The next Brunson hearing will be held on October 12, and there is growing hope that he will be allowed to return to the United States.
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Halavurt said that "the procedure of a constitutional court may take a few months" after being brought before an Istanbul court.
Brunson, who ran a small Evangelical Protestant church in Izmir and has been living in Turkey since 1993, is at the center of tensions between Ankara and Washington.
He faces up to 35 years in prison if he is found guilty of carrying out activities on behalf of two groups reputed by Turkey as terrorist organizations – one led by the US-based Muslim preacher, Fethullah Gulen, who, according to Ankara, is behind the 2016 failed coup and banned the Kurdistan Workers' Party.
Brunson and US officials insist that he is innocent of all charges.
Relations were even more tense after he was placed under house arrest and Washington's decision to impose sanctions on two Turkish ministers, as well as double steel and aluminum tariffs in August, causing a dramatic drop in the value of Turkish lira.
There are signs that tensions could ease after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he hoped Turkey would release his pastor. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday that he hoped that Ankara could rebuild its relations with its NATO ally.
(AFP)
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