A Turkish court rejected an appeal for American pastor Andrew Brunson to be released from house arrest, during his trial on terrorism charges, in a case that has raised the threat of US sanctions against Ankara. Pastor Brunson’s lawyer noted that his appeal was immediately rejected by the court. The court’s decision continues to strain relations between the two NATO allies, which spiraled into a full-blown crisis over the trial of Christian pastor Andrew Brunson, who was held for 21 months in a Turkish prison until his transfer to house arrest last week—a move Washington dismissed as insufficient. “These threatening remarks against us will not benefit anyone. We showed the best solidarity with the United States in NATO. We have acted together with them in Korea. Together, we put up many fights. Such a threat against Turkey, a country that still fights together with the United States side by side and shows top-notch solidarity in NATO, is not fitting for them. And excuse us but we do not give credit for using such threatening language.” / “We will never accept this understanding and the usage of such threatening language in the United States by the evangelist, Zionist mentality,” Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said.
