Turkish gang head: Justice Party asked me to kill an American pastor

The prosecution had presented Serkan Kurtuluch, who was arrested in Argentina last June, and is seeking asylum because he is wanted in Turkey on charges of supplying illegal firearms to Syria, and he killed a Russian pilot in 2015. Turkey asked Argentina to extradite Kurtuluch a month after his arrest.

Kurtuluch's allegations have not been verified, but the FBI requested that he be questioned, and Argentina has not yet responded to this request.

According to Kurtuluch, he was contacted by AKP members in Izmir and asked to plan the assassination of Bronson, and indicated that they wanted to place the blame for the assassination on the followers of Fethullah Gülen so that the US would recognize the Gülen movement as a terrorist organization.

It is worth noting that Andrew Bronson served as a pastor in Izmir and was arrested on false charges of supporting the Gülen movement. Turkey considers the Gulenists to be "terrorists", and blames them for the 2016 coup attempt.

Many also see Bronson prison as an attempt by Ankara to force Washington to hand over Gulen, and the priest's prison shows how detainees in Turkey are often used for political maneuvering by the Turkish authorities.

J.O