The cleric has been accused by Turkey of influencing a failed military coup in the country last week.
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Turkey’s state-run news agency says courts have ordered 85 generals and admirals jailed pending trial over their roles in the coup attempt. “This is risky for Turkey and for its neighboring countries, including Syria”.
The armed forces blamed the “Fethullah Terrorist Organisation” (FETO) for the failed putsch, referring to Fethullah Gulen, a one-time ally turned foe of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkey’s domestic situation is increasingly a concern as the government seeks to rid broad sectors of society of alleged antagonists.
Earlier, Erdogan said during an interview with Al-Jazeera aired on July 20 that foreign countries could have been involved in the coup attempt, although he declined to name any country.
Washington has said it would consider Gulen’s extradition only if clear evidence was provided, prompting Turkish Prime Minister Yildirim to accuse the United States of double standards in its fight against terrorism.
Mr Erdogan, meanwhile, made a series of televised appearances in which he disclosed dramatic details of his survival on the night of the failed coup and raised the prospect of reintroducing the death penalty to punish conspirators.
Yildirim did not say whether the evidence provided by the Turkish government to the U.S. constitutes a formal extradition request.
“A person of this kind can easily be extradited on grounds of suspicion”, said the spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin.
The state of emergency allows the president and cabinet to bypass parliament in quickly making new laws, as well as to suspend rights and freedoms of citizens – moves officials say they will not make. “They now rule the streets and have attacked known secularists in some instances-even bringing a call from Erdogan to behave more responsibly”, he said.
Ankara had earlier demanded Washington hand Gulen over to Turkish authorities, though USA officials said that no official request for extradition had been submitted. “I want to ask our friends in the USA, did you ask for proof when you demanded the terrorists after the Twin Towers fell on September 11?”
Shortly after, a TV announcer on state television TRT read a statement by the coup plotters who referred to themselves as the “Peace at Home Committee”, a reference to famous words of national founder and former army officer Mustafa Kemal Ataturk: “Peace at home, peace in the world”.
“We need to be more sensitive”.
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Officials say the new status is no different – and no more risky – than the state of emergency in France, which lawmakers extended by six months this week.
