An American pastor who has spent 18 months in Turkish custody appeared for the first time in court Monday, denying accusations of espionage and contacts with terrorists in a case that has exacerbated tense relations between Washington and Ankara.
Turkish prosecutors allege Andrew Brunson colluded with a group Turkey blames for the 2016 failed military coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as well with Kurdish militants Turkey regards as terrorists. He faces up to 35 years in prison.
The evangelical pastor, who has lived in Turkey for over two decades and ran a small Presbyterian church in the coastal city of Izmir when he was detained in October 2016, said he was never involved in any illegal activity.
Speaking to the court in Turkish, the 50-year-old from North Carolina said: “I have been praying for Turkey for 25 years. I wouldn’t do anything against Turkey."
The case has been a source of mutual exasperation in U.S.-Turkey relations, already soured by deep divisions over strategy in Syria.
Mr. Erdogan has suggested that Turkey might free Mr. Brunson if the U.S. deported Fethullah Gulen, the Turkish cleric accused by Turkey of orchestrating the failed coup.
U.S. officials have said swapping Mr. Gulen—who lives in Pennsylvania and denies playing any role in the coup attempt—for the pastor was out of question.
Ahead of Monday’s hearing, however, the Trump administration has been working to remove irritants to relations with Turkey, lawyers and officials have said. Among other steps, the administration pressed U.S. lawmakers to shelve proposed sanctions again Turkish officials linked to Mr. Brunson’s detention.
Attending Mr. Brunson’s hearing in the large courtroom on the outskirts of Izmir on Monday were Sam Brownback, who was recently appointed U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom, and Thom Tillis, a Republican senator from North Carolina who recently visited the pastor in jail.
Speaking on the sidelines of the hearing, Mr. Tillis said the U.S. was committed to building a strong relationship with Turkey but added that would “remain difficult as long as Pastor Brunson is incarcerated.”
Turkish prosecutors accused Mr. Brunson of supporting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and other banned Kurdish groups.
The pastor said he traveled to refugee camps near the border with Syria as part of his religious and humanitarian work, but dismissed allegations he supported or colluded with the PKK.
“I have always supported Turkey’s territorial integrity, and PKK’s violence is against my belief,” Mr. Brunson said in his five-hour defense statement, during which he at times appeared overwhelmed by emotion and wept.
The indictment against Mr. Brunson is largely based on anonymous witnesses, some of whom were expected to testify later Monday.
The accusation that the pastor has had links to supporters of Mr. Gulen is also tied to a picture investigators found in his phone, according to court documents. The picture features a meat-and-rice dish widely popular across the Middle East, Maqluba, which is described as a Gulenist delicacy in the court documents.
Mr. Brunson said his daughter had sent him the picture but added he didn’t know the dish’s name at the time or its alleged connection to Gulenists.
“I learned of this dish in the indictment file,” Mr. Brunson told judges.
Write to David Gauthier-Villars at David.Gauthier-Villars@wsj.com
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