Washington has yet to accept Turkey’s request for Gulen, saying it needs direct evidence of his involvement in the coup. But on Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu struck a noticeably upbeat tone.
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“Iran’s Foreign Minister was in phone dialogue with me from the very early moments of the coup, and voiced the firm stance of Iran’s government beside the legal government of Turkey against the coupists”, said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, at the joint presser of his meeting with Mr. Zarif on Friday in Ankara.
The Turkish PM Yildirim claimed previously that maintenance of friendly relations between Washington and Ankara depends on delivery of the Muslim preacher and leader of the Hizmet movement Gulen, who now resides in Pennsylvania.
Shortly following the coup attempt, Zarif and Cavusoglu exchanged views on the foiled putsch in three separate phone calls. US officials are reportedly suspicious that statements by alleged coup-plotters blaming Gulen were made under duress and are concerned that the 75-year-old hermit would not receive a fair trial.
In a separate briefing, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said “four specialists” would make up the delegation.
When asked, a State Department official did not indicate that the US position has changed regarding Gulen’s extradition. “In a case like this, not to extradite him, of course, would mean to prefer Fethullah Gulen’s friendship over Turkey’s friendship”.
The minister said Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden expressed their intention to come to Turkey but would not confirm previous comments made by Ankara that Kerry would visit on August 24.
More than 200 people died and thousands were wounded when a faction of the Turkish military took over helicopters, tanks and fighter jets in an effort to oust Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Gulen said in an opinion piece in French daily Le Monde that he believed the Turkish justice system was now controlled by the country’s executive arm.
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Turkey said Friday it has received “positive signals” from the United States over its requests to extradite Pennsylvania-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, who reiterated that he would only hand himself over to Turkish authorities if an independent worldwide investigative body first found him guilty.
