US President Donald Trump said on two separate occasions during his visit to Ankara to attend the Nato summit that his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan immediately released Pastor Andrew Brunson after his call back in 2018.

Following the failed coup attempt that took place in Turkey in July 2016, missionary pastor Brunson, who had lived in Izmir on Turkey’s Aegean coast for longer than two decades, was imprisoned in October 2016 as part of the post-coup purges in the country.

Thousands of related or unrelated people were arrested at that time amid the fury against the Gulenist clan, who were accused of orchestrating the coup attempt, and Brunson was one of the thousands of unrelated casualties.

Real law versus cuckoo

Brunson is an Evangelist missionary and the Evangelists in the US made an issue out of his imprisonment. The Erdogan government attempted to use him as leverage against former president Joe Biden's government.

Under pressure from the Evangelists, Trump, who took over the White House in January 2017, also repeatedly asked Erdogan to send the preacher back to the US. Erdogan, meanwhile, reiterated that Turkey’s judiciary was independent and impartial.

Screenshot: On November 9, 2016, Erdogan, wearing a gown and talking after receiving honorary degree from the Health Sciences University in Istanbul, complains about the Brunson pressure from the US government, saying: “Sizinki hukuk da bizimki guguk mu?/Is yours real law but ours is a cuckoo?”

Eventually, in August 2018, Trump said enough was enough. He wrote in a tweet that he imposed tariffs on metal imports from Turkey. The lira’s freefall began with this tweet.

The USD/TRY was in the 4s in July 2018. It is currently in the 46s.

Reiterated many times

After Brunson was sent back to the US in October 2018, Trump reiterated many times that his close friend Erdogan had released Brunson on his call.

On July 7, while holding a joint press meeting at Erdogan's palace, Trump was asked: “What makes your relationship with Erdogan so special, in your own words?”

“You never know why a relationship is special. Some people you get along with and some people you don't. Sometimes you get along with the toughest people, like him, and sometimes you don't get along with the weakest, most pathetic people. You just don't get along, maybe you don't respect them. But, you know, from the day we met, we got along,” Trump replied.

“We had a pastor. I remember his name was Pastor Brunson and it was a very big thing and it was very traumatic. He was sentenced to a long term prison sentence and I felt he was innocent and I called, other people called, they got nowhere. I called the president and he released him immediately, something that the evangelical community will never forget,” he added.

“And, because he was a good man, Pastor Brunson. So, you know, just things like that, we just have always. It's always worked out. And, I think it's been, from the very beginning, from the first moment. This just, I said it before, it's a chemistry that works between us,” he continued.

Second time in less than 24 hours

The next day, holding a press meeting alone following the Nato summit, Trump was asked: “After your meeting with President Erdogan, can you tell us whether you and President Erdogan reached an understanding on Turkey's return to the F-35 programme and the future of US-Turkey defense cooperation? And do you believe US-Turkey relations are entering a new chapter right now?”

“Well, I had a great relationship in my first term. You remember Pastor Brunson, and he was put in jail for 35 years, and I called. He was an evangelical hero, actually, a very good man. And, I called President Erdogan and he let him out. I didn't pay anything like Obama and Biden paid billions of dollars all the time,” Trump replied.

“I never paid any for anybody, I just tell them let him out... I said, look, he's a good man, he's highly respected in the evangelical and I'd like you to let him out. And he was in my office, in the Oval Office the following day, Pastor Brunson,” he added.

Fodder for polemics

Trump provides fresh fodder for polemics on the situation of Turkey’s judiciary each time he reiterates that Erdogan had immediately released Brunon on his call.

On July 9, the European Parliament’s Turkey rappertour, who recentlyclashed with Turkey’s justice minister, Akin Gurlek, over the jailed Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, told a Turkish media outlet that the minister will read what Trump is saying about Brunson.