ALIAGA, Turkey -- An American minister on Monday denied accusations that he aided terror groups or spied against Turkey.
Andrew Craig Brunson, a 50-year-old evangelical pastor from North Carolina, faces up to 35 years in prison on charges of "committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member" and "espionage." His trial began Monday in a case that has strained ties between Turkey and the United States.
Brunson was arrested in the aftermath of a 2016 coup attempt. Turkey accused him of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, as well as to a network led by U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is blamed by Turkey for the coup attempt.
He served as pastor of Izmir Resurrection Church, a small Protestant congregation, and has lived in Turkey for 23 years. Brunson denies any wrongdoing.
"I don't accept any of the allegations or accusations," the state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Brunson as telling the court in the town of Aliaga, some 38 miles north of the Aegean coastal city of Izmir.
"I did not engage in any illegal activity. I had no relations with anyone engaged in such activity," Brunson said. "I am a Christian pastor. I did not join an Islamic movement. Their aims and mine are different."
The agency said the pastor delivered his defense statement in Turkish.
The pastor also told the court he would never work against Turkey.
"On the contrary, I love Turkey. I have been praying for Turkey for 25 years," the Cumhuriyet newspaper quoted Brunson as saying.
Cumhuriyet said the pastor wept in court during an afternoon session, saying being alone in a cell had affected his psychological state.
U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Sam Brownback, U.S. ambassador-at-large for religious freedoms, observed the trial, which the court later adjourned until May 7.
"[President Donald Trump's] administration is deeply concerned about this case," Brownback told reporters outside the courthouse. "We completely believe [that] Andrew Brunson is innocent. We are hopeful the judicial system will find that."
He added: "You'll continue to see very high-level U.S. government interest in this until he is released."
Prosecutors are seeking a 15-year prison sentence on charges of crimes committed in the name of Gulen's group and the Kurdistan Workers' Party. They want the pastor to serve another 20 years if he is found guilty of obtaining state secrets for political and military spying purposes using his religious work as cover.
The indictment -- based on the testimony of witnesses, including three secret ones, and digital evidence -- claims the pastor worked to convert Kurds to Christianity to sow discord.
U.S. officials have repeatedly called for Brunson's release, and Trump has asked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to have his government "expeditiously" return the pastor to the United States.
Erdogan fired back at Washington, demanding that the United States return Gulen to Turkey.
"Give [Gulen] to us, and we will try [Brunson] and return him," Erdogan said last year.
Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, has denied involvement in the coup.
Brunson's lawyer, Ismail Cem Halavurt, told The Associated Press that he expected the pastor's acquittal, arguing Sunday that the "weak" indictment lacked sufficient evidence to make the case hold up in court.
Information for this article was contributed by Suzan Fraser of The Associated Press.
A Section on 04/17/2018