WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) chaired a Helsinki Commission hearing on Turkey’s detention of U.S. citizens, including North Carolina native Andrew Brunson.
“As of today, Andrew Brunson has spent 404 days in a Turkish jail without trial and without access to the evidence against him. He is the subject of a vicious smear campaign in the Turkish press, and is facing life in prison on fabricated charges of being a terrorist and coup-plotter,” said Senator Tillis. “It is clear President Erdogan is holding Andrew Brunson ransom and the United States should not expect—much less accept—this sort of treatment from a NATO ally. I will continue to work with the State Department and my colleagues in Congress to secure the release of Andrew so he can return to the United States as a free man.”
Brunson, who is a Presbyterian pastor from Black Mountain, North Carolina, dedicated 23 years to Christian missionary work in Turkey until he was arrested last October. He has been detained in Turkey on national security charges and denied regular and appropriate access to legal counsel and American consular services. Earlier this year, Senator Tillis, Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), and leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs Committees sent a letter signed by 78 members of Congress to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seeking the unconditional release of American pastor Andrew Brunson.
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