Originally published at: Turkey Releases Pastor Andrew Brunson | Infostormer.com
This Pastor Brunson guy has just been released by Turkey’s government. Brunson was in Turkey promoting the Christian gospel but was jailed over allegations that he was involved in that weird coup attempt a few years ago.
The coup attempt was so strange and disorganized that it appeared to be a fake coup designed to benefit Tayyip Erdogan and the sitting government. Either way, the entire debacle was used to justify a massive institutional purge and to jail political dissidents and enemies. Erdogan was even blaming the whole thing on some guy living in Pennsylvania.
Donald Trump has used the Brunson case as justification to put economic sanctions on Turkey. The pressure put on Turkey has caused them to relent and release Brunson. Trump said that no deal was made to secure his release.
This is a case of Trump using the power of America to exercise his will. He’s done a pretty good job of using this power to secure the release of American prisoners held in foreign countries. The Brunson release is definitely a good public relations win for Trump.