The Briefing Room
General Category => World News => Topic started by: TomSea on October 12, 2018, 02:15:14 pm
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Turkish court rules to release U.S. pastor Brunson
by Reuters
Friday, 12 October 2018
*Court sentences Brunson to 3 years
* Says has already served prison term
* Lifts restrictions imposed on Brunson
By Ezgi Erkoyun
ALIAGA, Turkey, Oct 12 (Reuters) - A Turkish court ruled on Friday to release the U.S. evangelical Christian pastor at the centre of a bitter diplomatic row between Ankara and Washington, a move that could be the first step towards mending ties between the NATO allies.
The court passed a 3 years and 1-1/2 month sentence on Andrew Brunson, who had been charged with terrorism offences, but said he would not serve any further time because he had already been detained since October 2016.
Continued at: http://news.trust.org//item/20181012133224-ru7ql/ (http://news.trust.org//item/20181012133224-ru7ql/)
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He's on his way home...
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Hopefully, we did not need to pay any ransom.
This pastor has been ministering in Turkey for close to a quarter of a century without any issues.
Only AFTER Erdogan came to power did his work become suspect. This came to a head after the failed coup against Erdogan a few years ago.
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.
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The full effect of the re-imposed sanctions on Iran go into effect on November 4th. Turkey had already stated they would continue importing Iranian oil, despite them. I’m guessing some back channel deal was reached for the pastor’s release, with these issues in mind.
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Ragıp Soylu
â€Verified account @ragipsoylu
LATEST — Three important witnesses retracted their negative statements about Pastor Brunson during a court hearing today, paving way for his release
3:56 AM - 12 Oct 2018
https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu/status/1050701748925542400
Also, the ruling of the court at this point is something like Brunson served 2 of what they are calling a 3 year sentence.
Per the article posted, Brunson does say something like "I love Turkey", so we will see where this goes.
I've said before I follow on twitter Kyle Orton, big surprise yesterday, he appeared on some podcast or youtube show with Red State writer Andrea Ruth. So, that's something.
https://twitter.com/batfshow/status/1050548976590708736
The show is BATF of all things, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Friends (an obvious play on words).
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Trump: ‘No Deal Made’ for Pastor Andrew Brunson’s Release
By Melanie Arter | October 12, 2018 | 6:26 PM EDT
(CNSNews.com) - Fresh off of his release from Turkish prison, Pastor Andrew Brunson will be visiting the White House on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced on Friday.
Speaking to reporters after landing in Cincinnati, Ohio, Trump said Brunson was “in good shape†and will be “stopping most likely in Germany for a full check-up, and then he’s going to be coming to the Oval Office most likely on Saturday.â€
“But we’re very honored to have him back with us. He suffered greatly, but we’re very appreciative to a lot of people, lot of people. So Pastor Brunson’s in the air heading to Germany and then coming to the U.S. He’ll be landing on Saturday, most likely Saturday in D.C.,†the president said. ...
Trump said there was no deal made for Brunson’s release. ...
“We spoke to Turkey, and he went through a system, and we got him out. They’ve been trying to get him out for a long time,†the president said.
“This has nothing to do with anything. There was no deal made at all. There was no deal, but we’re very happy to have him and have him in good shape. ...†Trump said. Full story at CNS News (https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/melanie-arter/trump-no-deal-made-pastor-andrew-brunsons-release)