Turkey, US top diplomats hold phone talk after Brunson released

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his U.S. counterpart Mike Pompeo on Friday spoke over the phone following the release of U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

کد خبر: ۸۴۲۳۳۷

تاریخ: ۲۱ مهر ۱۳۹۷ - ۰۸:۴۹

A Turkish court decided on Friday to release Andrew Brunson, who has been detained since December 2016 and sparked a diplomatic row between the two NATO allies.

Cavusoglu and Pompeo made the phone call after the release of the U.S. pastor, the Anadolu report cited an anonymous Turkish diplomatic source as saying, without giving more details of their talk.

Following the Friday's hearing, the Turkish court sentenced Brunson to three years and 45 days in jail over terror charges, but freed him on time already served. The court also lifted his travel ban.

Before the hearing, U.S. broadcaster NBC said Turkey and the United States had reached "a secret deal" for Brunson to be released Friday and some charges against him were dropped, in exchange for the United States easing "economic pressure" that included the measures that hit the Turkish currency in the summer.