Cheeky Erdogan: If US Wants Pastor Freed It Should Look At Its Own Actions

The President of Turkey Tayyip Erdogan called the United States hypocrites for asking for an American Christian pastor to be freed. The pastor has been jailed in Turkey for a year-and-a-half after being accused of having ties to a failed coup in 2016. Erdogan said the United States should look at its actions if it wants the imprisoned pastor returned.

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The comments came while Erdogan was giving a live interview with broadcaster NTV. The pastor accused of being tied to the 2016 coup is Andrew Brunson. Brunson was living in Turkey for over two decades before he was indicted on charges of helping the group that Ankara says is responsible for the failed coup against Erdogan.

Brunson is facing up to 35 years in prison if convicted of the charges against him but maintains his innocence. Erdogan has previously linked Brunson's fate to the fate of the Muslim cleric Turkey blames for the coup attempt, Fethullah Gulen. If Gulen did orchestrate the attack, he did so from the United States where he has lived since 1999. Gulen also denies the charges against him and claims he is innocent of being involved in the coup.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pastor Andrew Brunson, a fine gentleman and Christian leader in the United States, is on trial and being persecuted in Turkey for no reason. 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!</p>&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/986432143189512192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 18, 2018</a></blockquote>

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Andrew Brunson is a pastor who’s been wrongfully detained in Turkey for a year-and-a-half. I join <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>, the people of North Carolina &amp; the people of America to say: it’s time for Turkey to send Pastor Andrew Brunson home! <a href="https://t.co/9iKR5R0Zr8">pic.twitter.com/9iKR5R0Zr8</a></p>&mdash; Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) <a href="https://twitter.com/VP/status/987450120072585216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 20, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Turkey has been trying to extradite Gulen since the attempted coup failed in 2016. Dozens of U.S. state senators have implored Erdogan to release the jailed Brunson, and recently U.S. President Donald Trump added his name to the growing list of those asking for Brunson's return. Vice President Mike Pence also asked Turkey to return Brunson saying he was "wrongfully detained."

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Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-usa-erdogan/turkeys-erdogan-says-u-s-should-look-at-its-own-actions-if-it-wants-jailed-pastor-freed-idUSKBN1HS0PB