The United States and Turkey have reportedly agreed to deal with the row over imprisoned American pastor Andrew Brunson diplomatically. However, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that “Brunson needs to come home. As do all the Americans being held by the Turkish government” and warned Turkey of serious consequences if the pastor is not released, according to a report by Deutsche Welle (DW) on Friday.
Pompeo and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu held talks in Singapore on Friday on the sidelines of a regional summit and agreed to continue to try to resolve bilateral issues between the two countries.
Washington imposed sanctions on two Turkish ministers over the imprisonment of Brunson, who Turkish authorities accuse of espionage and backing terror groups. 50-year-old Brunson was arrested in December 2016 following a controversial military coup on charges of “committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member” and espionage.
Although he was released to home detention, Brunson faces a prison sentence of up to 35 years if he is convicted on both counts at the end of his ongoing trial. Brunson has lived in Turkey for 23 years and ran the İzmir Resurrection Church.
“They (Pompeo and Çavuşoğlu) spoke about a number of issues, and had a constructive conversation,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Friday.
Pompeo told reporters travelling with him to Singapore the US had put Turkey on notice “that the clock had run and it was time for Pastor Brunson to be returned.” “I hope they’ll see this for what it is, a demonstration that we’re very serious,” Pompeo said of the sanctions. “We consider this one of the many issues that we have with the Turks.”
“Brunson needs to come home. As do all the Americans being held by the Turkish government. Pretty straightforward. They’ve been holding these folks for a long time. These are innocent people,” he added.
A case in point is that of Serkan Gölge, a NASA scientist with dual US-Turkish citizenship who in February was convicted on terrorism charges that the US says are “without credible evidence” and sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison.
Hamza Uluçay, a 37-year veteran of the US diplomatic service, has been jailed since February 2017 based on “evidence” that dollar bills found in his home constituted proof of his involvement in the abortive coup.
Twenty-year State Department veteran Metin Topuz was likewise detained for allegedly attempting to overthrow the Turkish government and suspected links to the Gülen movement.
Nazmi Mete Cantürk, who is charged with espionage and attempting to overthrow the government, has been under house arrest since January.
But Çavuşoğlu insisted that US’ threats and sanctions would not be effective. “We have said from the start that the other side’s threatening language and sanctions will not get any result. We repeated this today,” Çavuşoğlu told reporters in Singapore after his meeting with Pompeo.
On Wednesday, the White House announced it was imposing sanctions on Turkey’s Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül and Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu for their role in Brunson’s detention. “We believe he (Brunson) is a victim of unfair and unjust attention by the government of Turkey,” US Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.
Washington has maintained that there is no credible evidence to support the charges brought against Brunson. The Trump administration is also seeking the release of three locally employed embassy staff detained in Turkey.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said that he will not be swayed by sanctions. However, he has indicated that he would swap Brunson for Fethullah Gülen, a US-based Turkish Muslim scholar who has been accused by Erdoğan regime of plotting the 2016 coup attempt.
The post US’s Pompeo: All Americans being held by Turkish gov’t need to come home appeared first on Stockholm Center for Freedom.
from Stockholm Center for Freedom https://stockholmcf.org/uss-pompeo-all-americans-being-held-by-turkish-govt-need-to-come-home/
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