Tillis leads call for Turkish authorities to release jailed American pastor

U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) has spearheaded a bipartisan congressional effort seeking the release of Pastor Andrew Brunson, an American imprisoned in Turkey since 2016 on what the lawmaker’s office deems as bogus charges related to terrorism and espionage.

Turkish authorities last month indicted Brunson, a 50-year-old North Carolina native, of allegedly helping to arrange a July 2016 coup that threatened Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s leadership. The 62-page indictment also charges Brunson, who has been a Christian pastor in Turkey for the past 23 years, of committing an act of terrorism by spreading the Christian faith in the majority-Muslim country, according to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Brunson could face life behind bars.

The United States has condemned the attempted coup and supports ongoing efforts to bolster law enforcement cooperation between the United States and Turkey, including investigations around the coup, wrote Sen. Tillis and U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) in an April 20 letter to Erdogan demanding Brunson’s release.

“However, we are deeply disturbed that the Turkish government has gone beyond legitimate action against the coup plotters to undermine Turkey’s own rule of law and democratic traditions,” the senators wrote in their letter, which was signed by a total of 66 senators, including U.S. Sens. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Richard Burr (R-NC), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Steve Daines (R-MT), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), John Hoeven (R-ND), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Todd Young (R-IN).

For instance, the lawmakers pointed out that under the subsequent State of Emergency declared by the Turkish government following the coup attempt, there have been tens of thousands of Turks and some citizens from the United States and other countries who “have been arrested, dismissed from employment or otherwise seen their lives destroyed on vague charges and dubious evidence.”

U.S. President Donald Trump also disputed the Turkish government’s charges against Brunson in an April 17 tweet. “Pastor Andrew Brunson, a fine gentleman and Christian leader in the United States, is on trial and being persecuted in Turkey for no reason,” Trump wrote. “They call him a spy, but I am more a spy than he is. Hopefully he will be allowed to come home to his beautiful family where he belongs!”

Sen. Tillis attended Pastor Brunson’s trial, which began on April 16 in Izmir, Turkey, along with former Kansas U.S. Senator Sam Brownback, the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. The Turkish Court postponed the next hearing until May 7, ordering Pastor Brunson to remain in prison, according to a statement from Tillis’ staff.

Calling Brunson’s indictment “an absurd collection of anonymous accusations, flights of fantasy and random character assassination,” the U.S. lawmakers said the pastor “is being used as a political pawn by elements of the Turkish government bent on destroying the longstanding partnership between two great nations.”

They also expressed outrage that Brunson “explain his religious convictions to others,” as noted in the March 13 indictment, and said that government’s accusations that the pastor was trying “to undermine the Turkish state brings a new and deeply disturbing dimension to the case. It should trouble all Turks justly proud of Turkey’s centuries-old tradition of welcoming believers of all faiths.”

Millions of Americans are “deeply concerned” by the situation and have remained patient awaiting justice, wrote the senators, who said they’ve now “concluded that other measures will be necessary to ensure that the Government of Turkey respects the right of law-abiding citizens and employees of the United States to travel to, reside in, and work in Turkey without fear of persecution.”