The US State Department denied on Thursday that Washington and Ankara had reached an agreement to free the US priest, Andor Branson, who has been held by Turkey for two years.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Naort said the ministry was not aware of any deal to secure the release of Andrew Branson.
The NBC News reported earlier Thursday that the United States and Turkey had reached an agreement under which Branson would be released and certain charges against him would be dropped during the next hearing of his trial scheduled for Friday.
NBC News quoted officials and a third person familiar with the matter as saying they expected Branson to return to his home in North Carolina in the coming days after the Turkish government released him two years later.
The sources said that the agreement reached by the parties, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in September, to drop the Turkish judiciary in the next session, scheduled on Friday, a number of charges against the American cleric.
The case of Rev. Branson, one of the most contentious issues in a diplomatic dispute between Ankara and Washington, has prompted the United States to impose sanctions and customs duties on Turkey.
Branson has been in Turkey for more than 20 years, accusing him of helping a group Ankara says is behind a coup attempt in 2016.
Ankara arrested Branson on his way to the Izmir provincial police station in 2016 and remained in jail for about a year and a half before being placed under house arrest in July.
Turkey has accused Branson of involvement in an attempted coup and supporting terrorist groups. The priest, who denies the charges, faces up to 35 years in jail if convicted.
