Image copyright Reuters Image caption Andrew Brunson (third right) denies links to banned groups in Turkey 
 
 The US is increasing pressure on Turkey to try to secure the freedom of American pastor Andrew Brunson. While the leaders of the two Nato allies clash with each other, Mr Brunson's fate hangs in the balance. 
 
 US President Donald Trump tweeted earlier this week that Mr Brunson was being held "hostage" in Turkey. Mr Brunson should be released, he said. 
 
 Mr Brunson has been held for almost two years because of his alleged links to political groups that are outlawed in Turkey and he is now under house arrest. Members of the Protestant evangelical church in the US - part of the president's base of support - have rallied on his behalf, demanding his freedom. 
 
 Mr Trump and his aides have amplified their demands and criticised the actions of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A senior US official has wondered aloud whether Turkey could even be considered a true Nato ally, given how Turkish officials have treated Mr Brunson. 
 
 "A real Nato ally wouldn't have arrested Brunson in the first place," the official said. 
 
 Mr Trump and Mr Erdogan, says the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Jon Alterman, are in a personal feud - with Mr Brunson as a "pawn". 
 
 Mr Brunson, 50, is originally from Black Mountain, North Carolina, and he runs a small evangelical church in Izmir, Turkey. He has denied any wrongdoing. 
 
 US officials have imposed financial sanctions against Turkey and called for Mr Brunson's release. Turkish officials say they won't cave in to threats from the US. 
 
 Officials from the US and Turkey have imposed tariffs on one another's goods. The conflict between the two countries has aggravated Turkey's economic crisis - the lira has lost about a third of its value against the dollar since January. 
 
 And now US officials are threatening to retaliate against Turkey even more. 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Trump and Erdogan are divided on a number of issues 
 
 Senior US officials are discussing additional sanctions that could be imposed. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that they had more in mind - and could be put into effect if Mr Brunson was not freed. 
 
 US officials have also said that further negotiations over a contentious issue in US-Turkish relations - a Turkish state bank, Halkbank, which allegedly helped Iran to evade US sanctions - will have to wait until Mr Brunson is released. 
 
 US treasury department officials have subpoenaed the bank, according to a US official, and received material from them. But at this point the US officials are unsatisfied with the material that Halkbank has provided. 
 
 In addition, according to a US official, the US justice department is pursuing an investigation into Halkbank and the case, the US official warned, could turn into a criminal one. 
 
 Turkish officials have said the bank did nothing illegal and shouldn't be penalised. 
 
 Meanwhile the feud continues. Mr Trump wants Mr Erdogan to release Mr Brunson for humanitarian reasons. If Mr Brunson is found guilty, he could face up to 35 years in prison. 
 
 But there are other reasons too, says Joshua Landis, a professor of Middle East studies at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. He says that if Mr Trump wins Mr Brunson's freedom, then the president can claim that his "strong-arm tactics" are effective in the realm of foreign policy. 
 
 Besides that, says Mr Landis, securing the release of Mr Brunson would be welcomed by "the religious right". 
 
 "That's his bread and butter," says Mr Landis. "He's doing this for them." ||||| IZMIR, Turkey (Reuters) - A U.S. pastor was flown out of Turkey on Friday after a court freed him from two years of detention, in a step that could improve U.S.-Turkish ties strained by disputes over Syria, Iran and Ankara’s planned purchase of Russian military equipment. 
 
 Pastor Andrew Brunson was expected to land at Joint Base Andrews near Washington at around noon EDT (1600 GMT) on Saturday after a stop in Germany for a medical check-up. 
 
 Brunson was jailed two years ago and had been under house arrest since July. He was accused of links to Kurdish militants and supporters of Fethullah Gulen, the cleric blamed by Turkey’s government for a coup attempt in 2016. 
 
 The Turkish court sentenced Brunson to three years and 1-1/2 months in prison on terrorism charges, but said he would not serve any further jail time and freed him. 
 
 Brunson, who has lived in Turkey for more than 20 years, denied the accusations and Washington had demanded his immediate release. 
 
 U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell greeted Brunson and his wife during a refueling stop in Germany, the envoy said on social network Twitter. 
 
 “He’s almost home thanks to @realDonaldTrump,” Grenell wrote. “When I presented him with the US flag, he immediately kissed it.” 
 
 President Donald Trump said Brunson would probably visit the White House Oval Office on Saturday. 
 
 Asked if U.S. sanctions imposed on Turkey to try to win Brunson’s release might be lifted, Trump said no agreement was made for the pastor’s freedom. 
 
 “There was no deal made at all. There was no deal. But we’re very happy to have him and have him in good shape.” Trump told reporters in Cincinnati. 
 
 The diplomatic fight over Brunson had accelerated a recent sell-off in Turkey’s currency, worsening its financial crisis. 
 
 ‘GREAT CHRISTIAN’ 
 
 Dressed in a black suit, white shirt and red tie, Brunson wept as the court decision was announced, witnesses said. Before the judge’s ruling, he had told the court: “I am an innocent man. I love Jesus. I love Turkey.” 
 
 U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson and his wife Norrine arrive at the airport in Izmir, Turkey October 12, 2018. REUTERS/Umit Bektas 
 
 Witnesses told the court in the western town of Aliaga that testimony against the pastor attributed to them was inaccurate. 
 
 Brunson’s mother told Reuters she and his father were elated at the news. “We are overjoyed that God has answered the prayers of so many people around the world,” she said by telephone from her home in Black Mountain, North Carolina. 
 
 Trump has used the Brunson case to try to score points with evangelical Christians, a large part of his political base, ahead of the Nov. 6 congressional elections, which will determine whether Republicans keep control of Congress. 
 
 He has called Brunson, a native of North Carolina, a “great Christian”, and Vice President Mike Pence, the White House’s top emissary to evangelicals, had urged Americans to pray for Brunson. 
 
 “We thank God for answered prayers and commend the efforts of @SecPompeo & @StateDept in supporting Pastor Brunson and his family during this difficult time,” Pence said on Twitter. “@SecondLady and I look forward to welcoming Pastor Brunson and his courageous wife Norine back to the USA!” 
 
 U.S. broadcaster NBC said on Thursday that Washington had done a secret deal with Ankara to secure Brunson’s release. 
 
 Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, told Reuters that active engagement by Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo contributed to Brunson’s release. 
 
 “A lot of factors played into this,” Tillis said, adding the United States was trying to “get back to a point of a positive relationship” with Turkey. 
 
 NATO ALLIES 
 
 Relations between the two NATO allies have been under serious strain over U.S. support for Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, Turkey’s plans to buy a Russian missile defense system, and the U.S. jailing of an executive at a Turkish state bank in an Iran sanctions-busting case. 
 
 The release of Brunson could help ease tensions, but political analysts say many unresolved problems remain. 
 
 “This is a necessary but far from sufficient step to reverse what has been a deepening rift between the United States and Turkey, two NATO allies,” said Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. 
 
 Attention may now turn to the fate of a Turkish-U.S. national and former NASA scientist in jail in Turkey on terrorism charges, as well as three local employees of the U.S. consulate who have also been detained. 
 
 Slideshow (15 Images) 
 
 Washington wants all of them released. 
 
 “We hope that the Turkish government will quickly release our other detained U.S. citizens and @StateDept locally employed staff,” Pompeo said on Twitter. 
 
 Ankara has demanded that the United States extradite Gulen to Turkey. The cleric, who was lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, denies any role in the attempted coup. ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
 
 / Updated By Carol E. Lee and Courtney Kube 
 
 WASHINGTON — The White House expects North Carolina pastor Andrew Brunson to be released by the Turkish government and returned to the U.S. in the coming days, two years after he was detained, according to two senior administration officials and another person briefed on the matter. 
 
 Under an agreement senior Trump administration officials recently reached with Turkey, Brunson is supposed to be released after certain charges against him are dropped at his next court hearing, currently scheduled for Friday, the senior administration officials and a person briefed on the matter said. 
 
 The details of the deal are unclear, but those familiar with the discussions said it includes a commitment by the U.S. to ease economic pressure on Turkey. 
 
 The Trump administration, however, isn't fully confident that Turkey will follow through with the Brunson agreement because Ankara was close to a commitment to release him several months ago but did not, one senior administration official said. 
 
 "We continue to believe Pastor Brunson is innocent, and the hearing on Friday is another opportunity for the Turkish judicial system to free an American citizen," a third senior administration official said. 
 
 Two senior administration officials said the White House had not been notified of any change in Brunson’s Oct. 12 court hearing as of Thursday morning. 
 
 A spokesperson for the Turkish embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. The White House declined to comment on the record and the Brunson family said they are also not commenting at this time. 
 
 The Turkish government has accused Brunson of helping terrorist groups, charges he has denied. The Trump administration has aggressively pushed for his release, saying he was wrongfully detained. In July, Turkey released Brunson from prison and moved him to house arrest. He faces a possible sentence of up to 35 years in prison if convicted. 
 
 Pastor Andrew Craig Brunson is escorted by Turkish plainclothes police officers to his house on in Izmir on July 25, 2018. AFP - Getty Images file 
 
 An agreement on Brunson’s release was advanced in discussions last month between Turkish and U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton, during the gathering of world leaders for the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the senior administration officials and person briefed on the matter said. 
 
 The White House does not plan to publicly address Brunson’s release in advance of his court hearing out of concern that doing so would jeopardize it. Officials from both countries have signaled Brunson’s possible release in recent weeks. 
 
 In remarks to the Jewish Institute for National Security of America on Wednesday, Pompeo referred to Brunson’s situation, saying that releasing the pastor would be the "humanitarian thing for Turkey to do." 
 
 "I am very hopeful that before too long Pastor Brunson will, he and his wife will be able to return to the United States," Pompeo added. 
 
 Brunson is an evangelical pastor from Black Mountain, North Carolina. He has spent more than two decades living in Turkey, where he ran the Resurrection Church in the western city of Izmir. He was detained in Turkey in October 2016 and charged with helping individuals Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says were behind a failed coup earlier that year. 
 
 Brunson’s imprisonment has increasingly strained the relationship between the Trump administration and Turkey, a NATO ally. Brunson’s release could be more likely given that his court hearing comes at a time when Turkey is seeking U.S. support for challenging Saudi Arabia in response to the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. 
 
 Brunson’s release "could reset Trump and Erdogan’s relationship," Cagaptay said. 
 
 Administration officials have said the release of Brunson, as well as other Americans, would be a significant step toward mending ties between the U.S. and Turkey. 
 
 "This administration has been actively engaged in seeking Pastor Brunson’s release for months, along with NASA scientist Serkan Golge and the employees of the U.S. mission in Turkey," the third senior administration official said. "A positive development in the cases of Pastor Brunson, Serkan Golge, and local employees of the U.S. mission in Turkey would do much to improve confidence and to restore the bilateral relationship." 
 
 Vice President Mike Pence has been a leading critic of Brunson’s detainment and advocate for his immediate release. 
 
 Trump announced economic sanctions against Turkey in August after talks with Ankara failed to result in Brunson’s release. He also has publicly called for Erdogan to release Brunson. 
 
 "A total disgrace that Turkey will not release a respected U.S. Pastor, Andrew Brunson, from prison. He has been held hostage far too long," Trump wrote on Twitter in July. "He has done nothing wrong, and his family needs him!" 
 
 According to the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, Erdogan told reporters this week when asked about Brunson: "I must obey whatever the decision the judiciary gives."
– The disagreement with the US currently devastating the Turkish economy doesn't appear likely to end anytime soon. American pastor Andrew Brunson, who was jailed by Turkey for almost two years before a shift to house arrest last month, is at the center of the dispute and a senior White House official tells the Wall Street Journal that the US has rejected a Turkish offer to trade his freedom for dropping charges against Halkbank, a state-owned bank facing billions in US fines for violating sanctions on Iran. The US has told Turkey it won't negotiate until Brunson, who faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted, is freed, the White House official says, adding: "A real NATO ally wouldn’t have arrested Brunson in the first place." The US has already hit Turkish officials with sanctions over Brunson and the two countries have traded tariff increases, causing the Turkish lira to plummet to record lows. Brunson, a pastor from North Carolina strongly supported by American evangelical groups, was arrested because of his alleged ties to banned political groups, the BBC reports. American officials have threatened even more sanctions unless Brunson is freed, while Turkey has said it will not give in to American threats. Jon Alterman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies describes Brunson as a "pawn" in a feud between President Trump and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Shots were fired at the US Embassy in Ankara early Monday.)