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SAKRAN, Turkey – A Turkish court on Friday ordered the release of US pastor Andrew Brunson from house arrest, which will put an end to his 24-month imprisonment and allow him to return home, marking a truce. diplomatic dispute between Turkey and the United States.
Mr. Brunson was sentenced to three years, one month and 15 days in jail, but the judge lifted all judicial reviews – including the ban on traveling – leaving him free to leave the country immediately, because of a reduction for good behavior and in view of time served.
He left the courthouse by car soon after the announcement of the decision and US officials announced that he would return home to Izmir before leaving for the United States on Saturday morning.
The Trump administration had insisted on the release of Mr. Brunson, an evangelical pastor who runs the small church of the Resurrection in Izmir. He was one of two dozen Americans arrested as a result of a failed state coup in 2016. He was accused of helping terrorist groups and terrorists. 39, spying, accusations that he denies.
The prolonged detention and trial of Mr. Brunson have greatly increased tensions between the United States and Turkey. President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence personally raised his case in front of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, financial sanctions imposed by the United States and members of Congress. traveling to Turkey to attend his trial.
"Thank you to God," said Reverend William Devlin of New York, who attended all the hearings. "Pastor Brunson is going home. We thank the court, we thank Turkey and President Erdogan.
Washington and Turkey have been involved in complex negotiations over Mr Brunson's fate for months. Turkey is facing a growing economic crisis and is eager to reduce the multi-billion dollar fine that the US Treasury should impose on the Turkish public bank Halkbank, for its part in a plot to violate US sanctions. against Iran.
Mr. Brunson's release also coincided with the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident and journalist, columnist for the Washington Post, at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Turkish officials claimed to have video and audio evidence of the death of US resident Mr. Khashoggi, and his case may have forced Turkey to seek to re-establish relations with Washington in order to secure its help to cope in Saudi Arabia, analysts said.
Washington has accused Ankara of detaining Mr. Brunson, as well as some 20 Americans of Turkish descent and three Turkish employees of the US consular mission in Turkey, claiming that he There was no credible evidence and the inmates were used as leverage in various litigation with the United States.
In particular, Turkey has requested the extradition of the Islamist preacher from the United States Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of leading a terrorist organization and of being behind the coup attempt of 2016. Mr. Erdogan once suggested an exchange between the clerk and the pastor.
Mr Erdogan also sought to reduce the penalties for Halkbank. A bank official, Mehmet Hakan Atilla, was sentenced to a 32-month jail term in May by a Manhattan court for his involvement in the ploy.
Brunson and Atilla nearly agreed in July on the coordinated release of MM. Brunson and Atilla, but Mr. Erdogan's goal is to ensure the end of the lawsuit against Turkey for violating the sanctions.
A Turkish court ordered that Mr. Brunson be detained, although he was later transferred to house arrest. He lives since August with his wife Norine in his apartment located in an old district of the seaside town of Izmir. Since then, Turkish courts have repeatedly denied his call for release for health reasons.
Washington responded by imposing financial sanctions on the Turkish Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Justice. A few days later, Trump announced that the United States was doubling its tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from Turkey, just as the Turkish currency, the lira, had begun. a steep drop against the dollar.
Mr. Erdogan vowed that he would not give in to the threats and announced retaliatory measures, including increased tariffs on imported American cars, alcohol and leaf tobacco.
The lira, which has lost nearly 40% of its value since the beginning of the year, has fallen to a record level, shaking international markets and raising concerns about Ankara's ability to service its debt outdoor boom. International rating agencies have repeatedly degraded Turkey's position this year.
The Trump administration did not seem upset by Turkey's perilous economic situation and continued to demand the release of Mr Brunson before responding to Turkey's other concerns.
In a Twitter post In August, Trump called Brunson "a big patriotic hostage".
"We will not pay anything for the release of an innocent man, but we will reduce Turkey!" Said Mr Trump.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also warned reporters that the government would take further action if Mr. Brunson was not released quickly.
Mr. Brunson has enjoyed high-level support from the Trump administration, not least because Secretary of State Mike Pompeo belongs to the same denomination as the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in the United States. United, according to Mr. Devlin, pastor in New York.
The Turkish government insisted that Mr Erdogan could not interfere in the judicial process in Turkey and officials pointed out that Mr Brunson was accused of serious crimes, including espionage and kidnapping. aid to the Workers' Party of Kurdistan, the PKK, a separatist group that Turkey, the United States and the European Union have designated a terrorist organization.
US officials have stated that Turkish prosecutors have not presented any credible evidence in support of their case and that the trial, which took place with a hearing every few months, produced few hard facts to corroborate the case. idea that Mr Brunson was involved in terrorism.
Witnesses, mainly police informants or former members of his church, accused him of expressing his support for the Kurdish separatists and of acting as a relay to provide weapons. and support Kurdish rebels in Syria. Mr Brunson, who faces up to 35 years in prison, has denied all claims.
Three of the five witnesses who appeared in court on Friday morning – two by video link – contradict the testimony of one of the state's main witnesses, which appears to be weakening Brunson's case.
The few defense witnesses who testified described Mr. Brunson as apolitical, focused on his religion and open to Christians of all ethnicities, including Syrian refugees.
Mr Brunson said that he had nothing to hide and explained how the windows of his church, located in a small one-room house in Izmir, were still open for anyone to listen to them.
There were signs that both parties were working to resolve the dispute. Political rhetoric was dampened and after his attacks on Turkey in August, Trump stopped publishing critical tweets on Turkey.
Erdogan went back further and explained that he could not impose his actions on an independent judiciary, which some analysts interpreted as a sign that he was preparing to move Mr. M's release. Brunson for decision.
"I am not able to intervene with the judiciary because Turkey is a constitutional state," Hurriyet Daily News reported on Thursday. "I must obey the decision of justice. All related parties must follow court decisions. Period."
Turkish newspapers, which have accused Brunson of being a spy and having links with "the terrorist organization Fethullah Gulen," have significantly alleviated their reports.
The Friday morning articles briefly stated that Mr. Brunson would appear in court for the fourth hearing of his case.
Turkish officials have concluded that the Trump government wants to welcome Brunson home as a way to lift the Republican party ahead of the midterm elections. Officials from the East-West Institute, a think tank with offices in New York and Istanbul, were among the trial assistants. They said they had helped restore US-Turkish relations and were awaiting the release of Mr. Brunson on Friday.
A small bipartisan group of US Senators has offered to further improve bilateral relations if Brunson were released in a statement released on Thursday.
"We hope that the pastor will finally be allowed to return home to his family in the United States after his hearing tomorrow," they wrote. "The United States and Turkey are allied with NATO and have a number of mutual concerns regarding the security and stability of the region. It is time for us to close this dreadful chapter of our relationship. "
While rumors were rife ahead of Friday's hearing in court, analysts have suggested that Turkey's economic woes forced Erdogan to give way to Brunson's case. "The economic pressure is working," said Asli Aydintasbas, senior official of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
The Khashoggi case may have given both parties a chance to cooperate. "This opens a window on Erdogan," said Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute for Near Eastern Policy. "If he's doing anything favorable, if Brunson can board an airplane, the United States would help Erdogan survive Khashoggi."
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