U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) was one of several senators to introduce bipartisan legislation Friday to restrict loans from international financial institutions to Turkey until the Turkish government ends the unjust detention of U.S. citizens.
 
In 2016, Turkey imprisoned American Pastor Andrew Brunson and indicted him on unsubstantiated charges earlier this year, Tillis said in a news release. A Turkish court ruled Thursday that Brunson will remain in custody until the next hearing on his case in October.
 
In April, the senators led a bipartisan group of 71 senators in a letter to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanding Brunson’s release. The senators include Bob Corker (R-TN), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), James Lankford (R-OK) and Bill Nelson (D-FL).
 
Other U.S. citizens, locally employed staff of the U.S. embassy, and tens of thousands of Turkish citizens still face unacceptable harassment and human rights violations by the Government of Turkey, the release states.
 
“The Turkish government should be fully aware that their continued wrongful imprisonment of Pastor Brunson and other innocent American citizens will be met with consequences from Congress,” said Tillis.
 
“Maintaining the longstanding partnership between the United States and Turkey is in the best interest of both nations, and will require President Erdogan and his government to begin treating American citizens in Turkey with the respect and due process rights we would expect from a NATO ally.
 
“It is long past time for Pastor Brunson to be released and reunited with his family in America.”

Read the article here.

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