What Happened The man at the center of a political tug of war between the United States and Turkey is finally going free. A Turkish court sentenced Andrew Brunson , an American evangelical pastor who has been in prison on terrorism charges since 2016, to three years in prison on Oct. 12 — only to order his release on time served. The court further lifted an overseas travel ban for Brunson, paving the way for his return to the United States and prompting a celebratory tweet from U.S. President Donald Trump. Why It Matters The significance of Brunson's release is manifold: The pastor's fate was one of the few issues in which Ankara possessed leverage over Washington, but Turkey's decision to release him indicates that the country wishes for some U.S. overtures on other issues.