FILE PHOTO: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan holds a joint news conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (not pictured) in Budapest, Hungary, October 8, 2018. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday after U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson was freed by a Turkish court that the judiciary had taken its decision independently.

“Dear Mr. President, as I always pointed out, the Turkish judiciary reached its decision independently,” he wrote on his Twitter account. “I hope that the United States and Turkey will continue their cooperation as the allies that they are, and fight together against terrorist groups.”