Turkey has issued a formal arrest warrant for US-based preacher Fethullah Gülen, accusing him of orchestrating the failed 15 July coup attempt aimed at ousting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, state-run media reported.
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Exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen has dismissed a new Turkish arrest warrant accusing him of organizing the failed July coup, saying it “changes nothing”.
The Turkish government has twice asked the United States to extradite Gulen, which USA officials have said is a request they will consider.
They said they expect to present new evidence to their American counterparts in coming weeks that they believe will highlight the links between Gulen and the coup plotters.
Turkey and the United States are bound by an extradition treaty, and the two countries must satisfy a series of legal procedures and meet evidential standards before any official extradition request is granted.
Anadolu said the Justice and Development Party, founded by Erdogan, issued a circular ordering its members to “immediately start efforts to purge those linked to the (Gulen movement) or who gave support to the reprehensible coup”.
Analysts say it would be unlikely for now that Turkey, a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member since 1952 and European Union candidate for decades, could readjust its pro-Western stance or recalibrate its policy towards traditional rivals like Russian Federation.
“We will cut off all their business links, all the revenues of Gulen-linked businesses”, Erdogan added in a speech to the heads of chambers of commerce in Ankara.
A court in Istanbul has issued an arrest warrant for US-based Turkish cleric Fetullah Gulen.
A Turkish court Thursday remanded in custody the nephew of USA -based preacher Fetullah Gulen, leader of Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and mastermind of the failed coup attempt last month.
Turkey has designated Gulen’s movement – which runs charities, schools and businesses around the world – as a terrorist organization and has begun a widespread crackdown on suspected members since the failed coup. The trial of Gulen and more than 70 main defendants in the case of the coup attempt is scheduled for late November.
In a surprise move that a US State Department spokesman declined to confirm, Erdogan announced in a live television interview that the US’s top envoy John Kerry intends to visit Turkey later this month. American officials insist that it’s first and foremost a question of the Turks meeting American standards of due process and human rights.
Turkey has also sent delegations to both the United States and Europe to explain the dangers posed by the Gulen movement and to provide details of the coup attempt on 15 July. “We are not going to show anyone any mercy”, he said, describing the detentions so far as just the tip of the iceberg.
Business is the arena in which the network of Gulen was still the strongest, Erdogan said.
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Meanwhile, the USA military has also been unsettled by the sacking and arrest of almost half of Turkey’s generals, and believed to include figures who worked closely with American forces at Incirlik.
