Andrew Brunson

Two senior members of the United States' Senate, Lindsey Graham and Jeanne Shaheen, have paid a previously undisclosed trip to the Turkish capital to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a direct appeal for the release of U.S. national Pastor Andrew Brunson who has been in prison for more than 20 months on terror charges.

US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell told Congress's Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday that Washington is "constructing a long-term strategy to bolster the US presence in the Eastern Mediterranean."

US senators voted overwhelmingly to block the sale of F-35 jet fighters to Turkey on Monday, while Lockheed Martin says it expects to deliver planes before the bill could become law.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said on May 17 that Turkey recalling its ambassador from Washington is not likely to affect the relations between the two countries. 

The panel of judges overseeing the trial of jailed pastor Andrew Brunson, in a case that has inflamed tensions between Turkey and the United States, has decided to reject his demand to be released during the trial.

The trial of U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson, who faces up to 35 years in jail on terror and spy charges, resumed in Turkey on May 7.

United States President Donald Trump voiced his support on April 17 for Pastor Andrew Brunson, who is on trial in Turkey on charges of espionage and terrorism, in a case that has compounded strains in U.S.-Turkish relations.

A Turkish court has accepted an indictment of up to 35 years in prison for American Pastor Andrew Craig Brunson over charges of “committing crimes on behalf of terrorist organizations,” state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

A Turkish prosecutor requested on March 13 life imprisonment for detained American pastor Andrew Brunson over alleged links to a failed coup attempt in 2016, Doğan News Agency reported.

Authoritarian governments around the world have increasingly embraced the disgraceful tactic of arresting U.S. citizens and holding them as de facto hostages in an attempt to gain leverage over Washington. Iran and North Korea were pioneering practitioners — and both repeatedly extracted U.S. concessions. That probably encouraged other nations, including Egypt and Venezuela.