Gulen, once an Erdogan ally, denies any involvement in the July 15 coup attempt and has condemned it.
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Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday likened the July 15 coup attempt in Turkey to the September 11, 2001, attacks in the US, and urged patience as the USA determines whether to extradite a cleric Turkey blames for the uprising.
He said the U.S.is continuing to cooperate with Turkish officials in analyzing claims about Gulen’s purported actions linked to the attempted coup that left 240 people dead. Biden said it may be hard for Turks to understand that President Barack Obama had no constitutional authority to extradite the cleric.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (R) meets with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, August 24, 2016.
“The first [matter] is the Turkish request for the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, who is widely believed to be the hand behind the failed coup attempt”.
Biden’s visit to the Turkish capital came as Ankara’s military forces, working in tandem with US jet fighters, launched their first offensive into Syria to target Islamic State militants and Kurdish fighters in the aftermath of last weekend’s suicide bombing of Kurdish wedding in a nearby Turkish town that killed at least 54.
“Turkey has the United States’ unwavering support”, Biden said at a news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.
“Our legal experts are working right now with their Turkish counterparts on the production of and the evaluation of material and evidence that needs to be supplied to an American court to meet the requirements under our law in the extradition treaty to extradite Gulen”. “They can not and will not, under no circumstances, get American support if they do not keep that commitment”, Biden said, according to Kurdish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News.
Shortly before Biden’s arrival, Turkish forces launched a major operation inside Syria to clear Islamic State militants out of the Syrian frontier town Jarablus, backed by US -led coalition warplanes.
“I understand the intense feeling your government and the people of Turkey have about him (Gulen)”. Accompanied by Parliamentary Speaker Ismail Kahraman, Biden walked across the rubble and glass covering an interior courtyard of the building that lay in ruins. “Turkey has a diverse set of interests. just like every other country”. “Can you imagine what the American public would be saying or doing?”
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey’s goal is to “sweep ISIS away from the border”.
“Given the fact that power was cut to the base after the failed coup, and the Turkish commander of the base, Bekir Ercan Van, was arrested as one of the plotters – who gave the permission for a a tanker plane to take off and support rogue fighter jets on the night of the coup attempt – some USA analysts are concerned about the safety of U.S. nuclear weapons stored in the base”.
“The United States of America did not – did not – have any foreknowledge of what befell you on the 15th”, Biden told reporters.
A US delegation began meetings with Turkish counterparts on Tuesday to discuss the Gulen network’s activities.
A strain in relations – Turkey’s request that the U.S. extradite the cleric, Fethullah Gulen – was a key part of the agenda during the vice president’s brief visit to the country. “That’s why the United States is doing everything we can to support Turkey’s efforts to hold accountable those responsible for this bad tragedy, while ensuring the rule of law is respected”.
Turkish authorities fired more than 2,800 judges and prosecutors on Wednesday, in the latest purge related to the coup, broadcaster CNN Turk reported. The Turks, however, fear empowering Kurdish fighters in neighboring Syria and Iraq could further embolden separatist sentiments among the Kurdish population in Turkey.
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When YPG forces outside Manbij moved several miles northward over the weekend, Turkish artillery shelled them.
