Turkey, US share cautious optimism as high-stakes Brunson trial to resume
The mood is suddenly a bit lighter as Turkey's trial of US pastor Andrew Brunson continues tomorrow, after the suspected murder of a Saudi journalist offered Washington and Ankara an opportunity to work together for justice.
Andrew Brunson, the evangelical pastor being tried on espionage and terror charges in a controversial case that has badly bruised the United States’ relations with its NATO ally Turkey, is due to appear in court tomorrow. Hopes on the American side are that the 50-year-old native of Black Mountain, North Carolina, who has been held for a year in prison and under house arrest since July, will finally be freed.
The hearing comes amid a burgeoning alignment between Washington and Ankara over Jamal Khashoggi, the dissident Saudi journalist who is feared to have been murdered by a Saudi hit squad in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told a Washington audience yesterday, “I’m very hopeful that before too long Pastor Brunson and his wife will be able to return to the United States.” It remains unclear whether Pompeo was airing a wish or speaking on the basis of solid information.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, however, added to the cautiously optimistic mood, telling reporters en route home from an official trip to Hungary yesterday, “I am not in a position to intervene in the judicial system. Whatever the judiciary decides, I am obliged to abide by." He refrained from alluding to the bizarre allegations against Brunson that he had previously characterized as “dark terror links.” They include claims that Brunson, together with assorted Americans of the Mormon faith, was involved in the failed plot to bloodily overthrow Erdogan in July 2016 and to foment Kurdish separatism by converting Kurds to Christianity.
