Remember when I suggested Trump was being nice to Erdogan in order to try and free the Christian pastor in jail over there?
CNN –
US President Donald Trump raised the issue of a US pastor imprisoned in Turkey three times during a meeting with the Turkish president Tuesday, according to the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ).The White House confirmed Trump had raised the subject of Brunson during his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Washington, their first face-to-face meeting since Trump took office in January.
“President Trump raised the incarceration of Pastor Andrew Brunson and asked that the Turkish Government expeditiously return him to the United States,” the White House said in a statement after the meeting.
The ACLJ celebrated the news in a statement on its website: “This is exactly what we asked the President to do and is a major sign of significant progress toward bringing Pastor Andrew home.”
BOOM! He pushed Erdogan three times to get this guy back in the US. And Pence did it as well with those he met with. Totally awesome!
I just hope Trump is able to make it happen. Pastor Andrew Brunson really needs to be freed because the charges are bogus!
My only concern is that Erdogan won’t do it unless Trump turns over Fethullah Gulen. Erdogan called for his extradition while he was here and he’s evil enough to keep the Christian pastor in jail just to try and leverage Gulen.
So we’ll see. But I am very glad that Trump pressed Erdogan on Brunson’s release.