After two years of incarceration and three months of house arrest, a Turkish court sentenced Evangelical Pastor Andrew Brunson to three years and one month on terrorism charges. That said, the court underlined that the American national would not serve any further jail time in Turkey and ordered his release. Immediate after the court’s decision, Pastor Branson was flown out of Turkey to Germany, where he underwent medical examinations, after which he was flown to the U.S. capitol, where he was warmly received by President Donald Trump. “It’s been a very interesting day because as you probably heard, I said a little bit earlier — from a Turkish prison to the White House in 24 hours. That’s not bad,” US President Donald Trump Said.
Pastor Brunson thanked the American President for securing his released, while emphasizing that after 25 years of serves in Turkey, in-spite of his long incarceration, his love for the Turkish people remained. Furthermore, the American pastor took the opportunity to pray for President Trump. “Lord God I ask that you pour out your holy spirit on President Trump, that you give him supernatural wisdom to accomplish all the plans that you have for this country and for him. I ask that you give him wisdom in how to lead this country into righteousness. I ask that you give him perseverance and endurance and courage to stand for truth. I ask that you protect him from slander from enemies, from those who would undermine, I ask that you make him a great blessing to this country.”
Even as U.S. officials celebrated Brunson’s freedom, they called on Turkey to also release a Turkish-U.S. national and former NASA scientist in jail on terrorism charges, as well as three local employees of the U.S. consulate who have also been detained.
In response to the court’s decision to release Pastor Branson, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that he hopes the United States realizes that it cannot achieve any results with pressure and other means against Turkey. “I believe, and I hope, that the United States has realized that it cannot achieve any results in Turkey with pressure and other means. They need to leave (the decision) to independent judiciary and whatever judiciary decides we must all respect that. That’s it,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.