Tag: PKK

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

Turkish-US officials ‘cautiously optimistic’ of Brunson’s release

September 24, 2018 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Donald Trump, Fethullah Gülen, PKK, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey

Both Turkish and US government officials have voiced cautious optimism that American pastor Andrew Brunson, jailed by Turkey for the past two years on terrorism allegations, could be released at his next trial hearing, set for 12 October. “It’s a possible outcome,” a Turkish official told the Wall Street Journal . . . 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

Could Brunson’s release ease Turkey’s diplomatic standoff with the US?

August 7, 2018 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Coup, Fethullah Gülen, PKK, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Sanctions, Turkey, USA

After the slipping Turkish lira nosedived dramatically yesterday, losing a record 5 per cent of its value in one day, unnamed Turkish diplomatic sources confirmed to CNNTURK today that a government delegation from Ankara is heading to Washington within two days to discuss escalating tensions between Turkey and the United . . . 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

‘He will never be the same person he was’ – Brunson’s daughter

July 27, 2018 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Coup, Fethullah Gülen, PKK, Turkey, UN, USA

The day before the American pastor Andrew Brunson was transferred from prison to house arrest, his daughter gave an emotional speech at the US State Department’s Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom in Washington, DC, The Christian Post reports. Jacqueline Furnari, who last saw her father in August 2017, said she had . . . 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

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