Turkey has issued an arrest warrant for its former global football star striker Hakan Sukur as it probes last month’s failed coup aimed at unseating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, state media said Friday.
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With the shockwaves from the July 15 coup aimed at unseating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shaking Turkey four weeks later, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said 32 diplomats recalled to Ankara were still missing.
Biden has long helped manage relations with Turkey for the Obama administration, and last visited for meetings and cultural stops in January of this year.
Turkey has launched a massive crackdown on alleged supporters of the movement led by Fethullah Gulen, detaining 35,000 people and dismissing tens of thousands of others from government jobs. Since then, Turkey has sent several documents to the United States which Ankara claims proves that Gulen was involved.
Mevlut Cavusoglu, the foreign minister, told NTV television that a number of Turkish military attaches overseas supported the coup and some had even notified their embassies on the night of the failed coup that they were “in charge now”.
Turkey nearly immediately increased pressure for the extradition from the United States of Gulen, a former ally of Erdogan who runs an influential network of worldwide schools outside Turkey.
Despite the differences, Turkey and Iran will “strengthen cooperation for a lasting peace in Syria”, Cavusoglu said. “We have an extradition agreement”, he said.
Maintaining Ankara’s criticism of the Muslim cleric who denies any involvement in the putsch, Yildirim said on Saturday that Gulen ran an exclusive communication channel with 50,000 using it.
The former striker is believed to be in the United States and Turkish media said an Interpol Red Notice would be requested for extradition.
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Turkey has ordered military staff suspected of links to the coup to return to Turkey and a “legal process” has started against those who had not come back, the minister said.
