Washington- US pastor Andrew Brunson, freed after a two-year detention in Turkey that shook relations between the countries, said Friday he was heading home soon.
“This is the day our family has been praying for - I am delighted to be on my way home to the United States,” Brunson said in a statement.
The American Center for Law and Justice, a group that works on Christian legal cases and which represented Brunson, clarified that Brunson was set to return but had not actually left Turkey.
Earlier Report
Pastor back on trial as US hopeful of release
Aliaga, Turkey- An American pastor whose detention for the past two years by Turkey sparked a crisis in ties with the United States went back on trial Friday with Washington hopeful he will finally be released.
The detention since October 2016 of Andrew Brunson on terror charges caused not just one of the worst diplomatic rows of recent times between the Nato allies but also a crash in the Turkish lira, which exposed Turkey’s economic fragility.
The new hearing was held in a court in Aliaga in western Izmir province, with Brunson present as well as his wife Norine and US charge d’affaires Jeffrey Hovenier, an AFP correspondent said.
A total of five witnesses from the prosecution and defence were heard in a morning session before the court took a lunch break.
Turkish judicial authorities have repeatedly denied requests for the release of Brunson, who was moved from prison to house arrest in Izmir city in July.
But observers see growing indications that he may be allowed to go free on at Friday’s hearing, and the United States has expressed hope he will be released.
But if the court forces him to stay in detention or keeps a travel ban in place, the backlash from Washington and also financial markets could prove bruising for Turkey.
“I’m hopeful that before too long he and his wife will be able to return to the United States. That would be an important step forward for the US and Turkish relationship,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said ahead of the hearing.
The lira saw volatile trade ahead of the decision, losing 0.15 percent against the dollar to trade at 5.92.
US broadcaster NBC said Turkey and the United States had reached a secret deal for Brunson to be released Friday and some charges against him dropped, in exchange the US easing “economic pressure” that included the sanctions which hammered the lira.
But Turkey insists the judiciary is independent and Nauert said she was “not aware” of any such deal.
The resumption of the trial comes at a sensitive time for the Turkish leadership, which is under global scrutiny over how it handles the case of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi who disappeared at Riyadh’s consulate in Istanbul.
