INTERNATIONAL NEWS

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

After Coup Attempt, Turkish President Demands US Extradite Muslim Cleric Fethullah Gulen

 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the United States today to extradite to Turkey the U.S.-based moderate Islamic cleric he claims is behind Friday night's military coup attempt.

Erdogan made the demand during a televised speech addressing supporters outside his residence in Istanbul. He said Turkey had always cooperated with any extradition request for "terrorists" by the United States, emphasizing Turkey's joint role with the U.S. government in fighting terrorism.

"I say if we are strategic partners then you should bring about our request," Erdogan said.

Fethullah Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, has rejected the notion that he has any involvement in the attempt to seize power from Erdogan and said that he condemns "in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey."

He said today he knows nothing about who plotted the coup.

"You can think about many motivations of people who staged this coup. They could be sympathizers of the opposition party. They could be sympathizers of the nationalist party. It could be anything," Gulen, who left Turkey in 1999, said through an interpreter.

Gulen and Erdogan were once political allies before falling out over corruption allegations leveled at the Turkish president. Since then, Erdogan has frequently accused the Muslim cleric of trying to overthrow the government.

Today he criticized Erdogan for what he called the government's "repression and persecution" of Gulen's followers in Turkey.

"It appears that they have no tolerance for any movement, any group, any organization that is not under their total control," Gulen said.

Early in the coup attempt Friday night, Erdogan pointed his finger at his former ally, saying, "This is not a country that can be run from Pennsylvania."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the Obama administration would consider Erdogan's extradition request, given that Turkey can prove Gulen's wrongdoing.

"We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr. Gulen," Kerry told reporters while visiting Luxembourg today. "And obviously we would invite the government of Turkey, as we always do, to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny. And the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments about it appropriately."

The Turkish government announced earlier today it foiled an attempted coup, initiated by a faction of the military that took over state TV, imposed martial law and a curfew and attacked the police headquarters in the capital of Ankara.

"The situation unfolded in Turkey was a coup attempt to overthrow the democratically-elected government," read a statement released by the Turkish embassy in Washington, D.C. "This attempt was foiled by the Turkish people in unity and solidarity. Our President and Government are in charge. Turkish Armed Forces was not involved in the coup attempt in its entirety. It was conducted by a clique within the Armed Forces and received a well-deserved response from our nation."