More details about Biden’s trip weren’t yet available, but it’s expected a Turkish extradition request for USA -based cleric Fettulah Gulen, who Ankara accuses of planning the coup, to arise during the stop.
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On Friday, Cavusoglu also said there were 32 “missing” diplomats in various countries following the coup attempt and that the Turkish government would also be seeking their extradition.
More than 240 people were killed during the coup attempt by a faction in the Turkish military using fighter jets, helicopters and tanks.
Sukur, who reportedly left Turkey past year, played for Inter Milan and Galatasaray and was Turkey’s top goal-scorer in global competition.
His arrest is sought on charges of “membership of an armed terror group”, the state-run Anadolu agency said, referring to what Ankara calls the Fethullah Terror Organisation (FETO).
“Whether or not the anti-Americanism in Turkey will continue is also dependant on this”. Gulen, who runs a network of worldwide charities and schools from self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, has denied any knowledge or involvement in the coup.
After football, Sukur went into politics and was in 2011 elected to parliament for President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party.
Prosecutors have also sought the arrest of his father, who was for years his manager and has moved to the USA as well.
Turkey has branded Gulen’s movement a terror organization and wants the cleric returned to Turkey to face trial.
The request has been submitted to Turkey’s Justice Ministry for it to be relayed to USA authorities, Anadolu said.
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“The main element improving our relations with the U.S.is the extradition of Gulen, where there is no room for negotiation”, Yildirim was quoted as saying by CNN Turk’s general manager who was among journalists attending the briefing from Yildirim.
