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Christian group and pastors criticize detention of American pastor in Turkey

An Armenian church in Istanbul | Wikimedia Commons/Edal Anton Lefterov

Christian groups are decrying the detention of an American pastor who has remained in jail for almost a month in Turkey after he was accused of being a national security threat.

Andrew Brunson, who served as a pastor at the ProtestantResurrectionChurch in Izmir, Turkey, was arrested along with his wife, Norine, on Oct. 7. Norine was released on Oct. 20 but Brunson is still detained at Izmir's detention facility.

The case of the Brunsons has caught the attention of U.S.-based Christian group Voice of the Persecuted (VOTP) as well as some Protestant pastors and opposition Parliament members in Turkey, VOA reported.

Norine has been ordered to leave the country but officials have decided to let her stay until Nov. 10 which is when her visa expires. Church officials said that Brunson is also expected to be deported upon his release.

VOTP stated that the priority is to get the couple safely out of Turkey.

"The new objective is to see Norine and Andrew safely released from Turkey. They are willing and ready to comply with the deportation order, and yet the authorities continue to hold Andrew. Very little progress has been made through normal channels, so we will now start pressing the issue through Congress, through the media, and through the Turkish embassy," VOTP said in a statement.

Selina Dogan, a Turkish Parliament member of the Republican People's Party (CHP), told VOA that she has raised her concerns about the Brunsons to Turkish authorities but she has not received a reply.

"The pastors do have the right to share their faith with people. And what the Turkish authorities mean when they accuse the pastors of being a threat to national security does require some explanation," Dogan said.

She has been in contact with church officials and lawyers who are trying to secure Brunson's release.

The Association of Protestant Churches in Turkey reported that Turkish authorities have denied the extension of visas of over 100 expatriate Protestants in the past four years. Last month, American Christian Ryan D. Keating, who worked at a refugee ministry in Ankara, was denied re-entry to Turkey after he went on a short trip abroad.

Keating, who has lived in the country for over 10 years, was told by officers that he had a lifetime ban. The officers said his deportation was related to national security but he speculated that it was due to his work at the ministry.