US senators propose bill to prevent sale of F35 aircraft to Turkey over rapprochement with Russia, pastor under arrest

Three senators, James Lankford, Thom Tillis and Jeanne Shaheen proposed a bill late Thursday in a bid to prevent sale of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft to Turkey over rapprochement with Russia, pastor Andrew Brunson and so-called "disregard for the rule of law" of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

"Turkish Pres. Erdogan's disregard for the rule of law is dangerous. Senator Tills, Senator Shaheen & I today intro'd a bill to prevent the transfer of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft to Turkey. This technology is too risky in Erdogan's hands," Lankford tweeted.

"Turkey's strategic decisions regrettably fall more and more out of line with, and at times in contrast to, US interests," he added.

"Furthermore, the Turkish government continues to move closer and closer to Russia, as they hold an innocent American pastor in prison to use him as a pawn in political negotiations. The United States does not reward hostage-taking of American citizens; such action instead will be met with the kind of punitive measures this bill would enact."

The case of Brunson, who was a pastor at the Diriliş (Resurrection) Protestant church in Izmir, is a thorny issue between Ankara and Washington. Washington has repeatedly called for the release of Brunson, claiming he was "unjustly detained." Brunson is being tried on charges of espionage and aiding the PKK and Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).

Only a few days ago, reports said that the local law enforcement officers following up on the case uncovered new evidence of contact between Brunson and the top FETÖ official of the region, Bekir Baz. While Brunson rejects claims that he ever met Baz, investigations into both individuals GSM signals showed that they were at the same place or at least very close to each other on 293 occasions. Baz currently remains a fugitive from law.

The report, which was submitted to court, traces 5 GSM accounts registered to Brunson and 2 GSM accounts belonging to Baz between April 4, 2011, and Aug. 19, 2015. The report also claims that Brunson's GSM accounts were also at the same place as the GSM accounts of Baz's deputy Mustafa Safa. Baz is known as one of the select few who were able to directly contact Fetullah Gülen, the leader of FETÖ, who has lived in Pennsylvania for close to two decades.