Trump considers lifting sanctions on Turkey after US pastor freed

Washington, Oct 14
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he will take a look at US sanctions on Turkey and will consider whether to lift them after the American missionary Andrew Brunson was freed this Friday after two years in prison imposed by the Turkish justice system.

Questioned by reporters about the possibility of lifting the economic restrictions that Washington imposed on Ankara last August because of Brunson's incarceration, Trump said the White House will "take a look" at the sanctions, Efe reported.

The president again insisted that there was "no deal made at all" with Turkish authorities to eliminate sanctions in order to get Brunson released, though he tweeted about the "great appreciation on behalf of the United States, which will lead to good, perhaps great, relations between the United States & Turkey!"

Meanwhile on Saturday the American pastor Brunson thanked Trump for his efforts to get him out of Turkey after two years behind bars and prayed for him, asking God to grant the president "supernatural wisdom."

The missionary spoke several minutes with the president at the White House and, in the presence of the media, asked if he could pray for him, to which Trump readily agreed.

Brunson then knelt before him, put his hand on Trump's shoulder and began to pray: "Lord God, I ask that you pour out your holy spirit on President Trump, that you give him supernatural wisdom to accomplish all of the plans that we have for this country."

Turkey says US pastor 'not freed due to pressure'

Turkey's decision to release US pastor Andrew Brunson was not due to "any external pressure," the ruling Justice and Development Party's spokesperson said Saturday.

"It is the result of the processes of the independent Turkish judiciary," Omer Celik told reporters in the southern province of Adana, Xinhua reported.

"Despite of the impositions and threats over the case, none of Turkey's institutions including the presidency took any action on the case due to pressure," Celik was quoted by state-run Anadolu Agency as saying.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly stressed that Friday's release of Brunson was a ruling made by the independent Turkish judiciary.

The 50-year-old pastor, who had lived in Turkey for over two decades, was detained in December 2016 over espionage charges and links to a network led by the U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen and the Kurdistan Workers' Party.

A court in western province of Izmir on Friday sentenced Brunson to jail for three years and 45 days, but set him free due to time served.

In August, Brunson's continued detention turned a flash point in relations between Ankara and Washington, two NATO allies, prompting the United States to impose sanctions on two Turkish ministers and double tariffs on aluminum and steel imports from Turkey.