The Turkish lawyer for a US pastor at the center of a diplomatic row between NATO allies Ankara and Washington on Monday appealed to a court for his client’s release.

Andrew Brunson, who ran a Protestant church in the Aegean city of Izmir, was moved to house arrest last week after nearly two years in prison on terror-related charges.

But his lawyer Cem Halavurt told AFP that he had submitted an appeal for Brunson’s “house arrest and the ban on him leaving the country to be lifted”.

The court must give a response within three days, Halavurt added. The next hearing in Brunson’s trial is only on October 12.

The moving of Brunson from jail to house arrest last week stoked tensions rather than defusing the crisis with US media reports accusing Turkey of reneging on a deal to free him, which Ankara has denied.

Source: AFP