Tag: Izmir

Pastor Brunson case increased ‘hate speech’ against Turkey’s Protestants – report

February 27, 2019 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Ankara, Human rights, Istanbul, Izmir, Malatya, Mardin, Protestants, Turkey

Malatya’s Kurtulus (Salvation) Church posted this message on the broken glass after an attacker heaved a brick through the church’s display window on November 24, 2017: “’Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.’ – Jesus Christ.” (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Turkey’s high-profile criminal case against Protestant pastor Andrew Brunson has triggered a significant increase in public hate speech against the nation’s small Protestant community, creating what its church leaders last week called a ‘climate of insecurity’ for its congregations and individual members. According to the Turkish Association of Protestant Churches’ . . . Read More

Turkey’s Protestant Christians ‘feel stronger’ after trauma of Brunson case

October 22, 2018 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Catholics, Coup, Izmir, Orthodox, Protestants, Sunni, Turkey, USA

Soner Tufan with Andrew Brunson on the evening of the 12 October 2018 trial

A spokesman for Turkey’s Protestant Christians declared yesterday that his country’s tiny Christian community has “emerged stronger” from the high-profile trauma of evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson’s highly contested imprisonment and trial. The US pastor’s two-year ordeal culminated in a Turkish court’s decision on 12 October for his release and departure . . . Read More

Brunson freed, permitted to leave Turkey

October 12, 2018 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Coup, Donald Trump, Fethullah Gülen, Izmir, PKK, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey

Andrew and Norine Brunson in their Alsancak home in Izmir, Turkey, on 12 October, 2018, moments before they were escorted to the airport by US Embassy officials to fly back to the United States. Photo/World Watch Monitor

Andrew Brunson, the American-born pastor who was charged with espionage against Turkey and held in custody for two years, has been released and is free to leave the country. A Turkish court on Friday, 12 October, convicted the Presbyterian pastor on terrorism and espionage charges related to the failed 2016 coup . . . Read More

Andrew Brunson’s legal appeal sent to Turkey’s highest court

October 9, 2018 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Coup, Donald Trump, Izmir, PKK, Protestants, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey, USA

Jailed US pastor Andrew Brunson’s lawyer has filed a formal appeal before the Turkish Constitutional Court to overturn two lower court refusals to release his client from house arrest. The 10-page petition, studied by World Watch Monitor, called for “urgent” and “corrective” action by Turkey’s highest court to set free . . . Read More

Key witness testimony against Brunson refuted by Bloomberg

September 28, 2018 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Izmir, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey, USA

A hard-hitting investigative report by Bloomberg has targeted an unsubstantiated conspiracy link forged by Turkish prosecutors between jailed US pastor Andrew Brunson and Mormon missionaries. The alleged complicity between Brunson and an American Mormon neighbour living near to each other in the Alsancak district of Izmir features prominently in the . . . Read More

Turkey replaces prosecutor who indicted US pastor Brunson

September 10, 2018 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Coup, Fethullah Gülen, Izmir, PKK, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey

At the outset last week of Turkey’s new judicial year, the Izmir prosecutor who prepared the controversial indictment accusing US pastor Andrew Brunson of terrorism and espionage was reassigned to another bureau. Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul dismissed the transfer simply as a “routine procedure” with no particular significance, referring to . . . Read More

Hidden agendas cloak Turkish-US feud over jailed pastor

August 20, 2018 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Coup, Donald Trump, Fethullah Gülen, Izmir, PKK, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Sanctions, Turkey, USA

On the eve of the week-long Muslim festival of sacrifice, Eid al-Adha, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has accused US President Donald Trump of not wanting to solve his country’s disagreements with the United States over jailed US pastor Andrew Brunson. “It seems that they do not want to solve . . . Read More

Brunson’s third Turkish hearing focused on PKK allegations

July 31, 2018 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Izmir, Kurds, PKK, Suruç, Syria, Turkey

No hard evidence was produced against US pastor Andrew Brunson at his latest trial hearing on 18 July by the three prosecution witnesses called to give verbal testimony before Izmir’s Second Criminal Court. Judicial interrogations at this hearing focused almost entirely on the pastor’s connections with ethnic Kurds. Although one . . . Read More

Home after 21 months, but US pastor Andrew Brunson now can’t leave house till October trial

July 26, 2018 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Binali Yildirim, Coup, Fethullah Gülen, Izmir, PKK, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey, USA

A crowd of Turkish Christians from Andrew Brunson’s Izmir Resurrection Church greeted their pastor with cries of “We love you, Andrew!” as he arrived home under police escort on Wednesday afternoon, 25 July. After nearly 22 months in detention, Brunson was released at 5.30pm from Izmir’s Kiriklar maximum security prison . . . Read More

US pastor Andrew Brunson to be moved from prison to house arrest, but can’t leave Turkey

July 25, 2018 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Binali Yildirim, Coup, Donald Trump, Fethullah Gülen, Izmir, PKK, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey, USA

A photo of the Rev. Andrew Brunson during his time in prison. Photo courtesy of World Witness

The US pastor Andrew Brunson is being moved from Kiriklar prison to house arrest in Turkey after a court ruling today, 25 July, a leader of the Turkish Protestant Church has confirmed direct to World Watch Monitor. The same source confirmed that Brunson’s wife is on her way to the . . . Read More

Catching Our Eye