Turkey has sent the United States new documents in recent days containing evidence that Turkish authorities say proves the cleric was behind the attempted coup.
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Turkey has not yet made a formal extradition request. “We’re looking through them. and I don’t think they’ve reached that determination yet”.
The Turkish government characterizes the movement of Fethullah Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, as a.
According to Al Jazeera, the USA has asked for evidence of Gulen’s involvement, and has said the extradition process must be allowed to take its course.
A Turkish court Thursday remanded in custody the nephew of US -based preacher Fetullah Gulen, leader of Fetullah Terror Organization (FETO) and mastermind of the failed coup attempt last month. He stopped short of saying he would close the 30 Gulen-affiliated schools in Kazakhstan that educate 9,000 students.
Still, the Justice and Development Party, founded by President Recep Tayyip 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”, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
More specifically, Anadolu said the court based the arrest warrant on accusations that the coup plotters tried to assassinate Erdogan, kidnapped Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar and other military officers, bombed parliament, and killed police officers and civilians who resisted.
Turkey-US ties were strained by the failed coup amid Ankara’s indication of Washington being involved in the attempt.
The government has launched a crackdown in its wake that has seen over 60,000 people within the military, judiciary, civil service and education sector dismissed, detained or put under investigation.
But Erdogan is continuing his relentless attacks against Gulen, vowing to go after the cleric’s business and social networks, describing his schools, firms and charities as “nests of terrorism” and vowing no mercy in rooting them out.
“They have nothing to do with a religious community, they are a fully-fledged terrorist organization”.
“The (Gulen movement) is not only a threat to Turkey, it is a threat to all countries in which it has a presence”, Erdogan said during their joint news conference.
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Earlier in the day, Erdogan said in a speech live from the presidential palace that businesses linked to Gulen would also come under scrutiny and would be cut off.
