The United States should, as a minimum, arrest Fethullah Gulen, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Aug.24, TRT Haber reported.
Advertisement
He also noted that the evidence presented in Turkey’s extradition request was related to events before the July 15 coup.
Mr Biden is due to meet with Mr Erdogan and Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim “to discuss the US-Turkey relationship and a range of issues of importance to both nations”.
Turkish officials have warned that if Pennsylvania-based Gulen is not extradited, relations will suffer further and anti-American sentiment will deepen in the country.
Erdogan and his Islamist AKP have taken positions contrary to American preferences even as Washington depends on its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally for support on a host of regional issues, ranging from fighting terrorism to dealing with Syrian refugees and foreign fighters who transit through the strategically located country.
Biden visited the parliament building in Ankara bombed during the coup by rogue pilots in commandeered jets, expressing dismay at the loss of life.
“And so let’s move on”, said Biden.
Asked whether the USA might cave into pressure, the cleric said there was a possibility. This was no accidental shelling of a melee between the Kurds and ISIS – Turkey deliberately targeted an ally of the United States. “But I wouldn’t characterise the request as relating to the coup attempt”, deputy State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.
The vice president told reporters that the USA understands the “intense feeling” in Turkey over Gulen after the coup.
“We should make clear under American law that no president of the United States has authority to extradite anyone under his own power, that only an American court can do that”. The town is located along in Syria along the border with Turkey.
Former Supreme Allied Commander at NATO, Admiral James Stavridis, said the key to US ties with Turkey was balancing realist and idealist tensions, between the need for a strong, regional NATO ally and drawing attention to human rights.
Russian Federation and Iran are Syrian President Bashar Assad’s strongest military allies, and until now Turkey has joined USA calls for Assad to step down and is active in the war against Islamic State. I believe they mean what they say.
Joe Biden offered Ankara Washington’s “absolute and unwavering” support.
Biden sought to assuage concerns that the USA was shielding Gulen. The requirements are spelled out in a 1979 treaty between the US and Turkey that allows for extradition for crimes recognized in both countries. “Can you imagine what the American public would be saying or doing?”
Advertisement
“Can you imagine us being happy with another military state [in Turkey]?”
