Is Erdogan doing U-turn on jailed US pastor?
Andrew Brunson’s continued detention in Turkey risks deepening the breach with the US, with unforeseen consequences for Western security amid continued conflict in Syria and rising tensions with Iran.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan maintained that a Turkish court and not its politicians would decide on the fate of US pastor Andrew Brunson, whose detention on outlandish terror charges has pushed relations between Ankara and Washington to the brink.
In an interview with Reuters late Tuesday in New York, Erdogan said, “This is a judiciary matter. Brunson has been detained on terrorism charges. … On Oct. 12 there will be another hearing and we don’t know what the court will decide and the politicians will have no say on the verdict.” Erdogan had earlier suggested that Brunson could be swapped for Fethullah Gulen, the Pennsylvania-based cleric who is accused of masterminding the failed July 2016 coup.
The Turkish leader insisted that Brunson’s case had no bearing on Turkey’s economy, in an apparent repudiation of his long running claims that Western powers bent on destroying Turkey are the cause for the country’s current economic difficulties.
Why it matters: Brunson’s continued detention risks deepening the breach between the United States and Turkey, a key NATO ally, with unforeseen consequences for Western security amid continued conflict in Syria and rising tensions with Iran. President Donald Trump has publicly embraced Brunson’s cause, angrily tweeting in his defense and authorizing the doubling of tariffs on aluminum and steel imports from Turkey. The move sent Turkey’s shaky currency, which has shed some 40% of its value against the dollar since January, into a tailspin.
