Turkey indicts missionary from Black Mountain, trial may be a few weeks away

BLACK MOUNTAIN – Prosecutors in Turkey are bringing charges against a Christian missionary with local ties that carry a potential sentence of up to 35 years in prison, Turkey's state-run news agency says.

The recent indictment could be a prelude to a trial of Pastor Andrew Brunson in the next few weeks. It accuses Brunson of working with U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen's network and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, to stir chaos in Turkey and divide the country, The Associated Press reported, quoting Anadolu Agency in Turkey.

The U.S. government and Brunson's supporters say the charges are absurd. Some of his backers say Turkey is only holding Brunson in hopes of using him to persuade the U.S. to hand over Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, to Turkish authorities.

The government of Turkish President Recep Erdogan views Gulen, a former Erdogan ally, as an instigator of an unsuccessful 2016 coup attempt. Gulen denies that. Civil liberties have been curtailed in Turkey since the coup and many people have been jailed on what international observers say are false or questionable charges.

Anadolu Agency said Brunson faces 15 years for crimes committed in the name of Gulen's group and the PKK and another 20 years for obtaining state secrets for political and military spying purposes.

Turkey's Hurriyet Daily reported that the indictment accuses Brunson of being involved in converting Kurds to Christianity and working to establish a Kurdish state, something long opposed by Turkey.

The indictment says in part that "some of the churches’ executives and priests were trying to take root in our country by establishing associations under the guise of a missionary operation," Hurriyet reported. "(They were) aiming to divide our country into a few pieces and give a small part to the administration of" a Gulen-related group.

The charges come about a year and a half after Brunson was first imprisoned in October 2016.

An in-depth look: Jailed missionary with local ties living 'dark days' in Turkey

Brunson, 50, had led a small Protestant congregation in Izmir in southwestern Turkey along with his wife for more than 20 years. His parents were also missionaries and live in Black Mountain. Brunson lived here for a time in his youth.

Brunson has protested his innocence and members of the Trump administration have pushed for his release in talks with Turkish officials.

The American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative group involved in Brunson's defense, says the indictment means his trial is likely to begin in a matter of weeks. It says his first court date is April 16.

"The 62-page indictment, wholly lacking merit, provides no evidence regarding criminal action by Pastor Andrew, which comes as no surprise," the center's CeCe Heil said in a statement.

Critics of the Turkish government say Turkey is holding people like Brunson in hopes of using them to persuade the United States to extradite Gulen. The U.S. State Department has said that will not happen.

Erdogan himself has sparked talk of a trade, saying last year, "Give him (Gulen) to us, and we will try (Brunson) and return him."

Leaders of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a bipartisan federal government commission, recently condemned the charges.

“USCIRF urges President Trump and others in the administration to redouble their ongoing efforts to secure Pastor Brunson’s release. No stone should be left unturned in our efforts on behalf of this unjustly imprisoned American," USCIRF Vice Chairs Sandra Jolley and Kristina Arriaga said in a March 13 statement. "We call again for his immediate release and, if this is not forthcoming, for the administration and Congress to impose targeted sanctions against those involved in this miscarriage of justice."

"The government of Turkey has detained Pastor Brunson largely based on a purported ‘secret witness’ and secret evidence which they refuse to make public. The Turkish government should reverse course immediately and we urge the international community to condemn this indictment," Jolley and Arriaga said.

Representatives of more than 20 European countries in January called Turkey's handling of the Brunson case "blackmail."