Turkey’s state-run news agency says the ruling party has instructed its local branches and municipalities to purge themselves of followers of US -based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused by the government of being behind the country’s failed July 15 coup.
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Turkey’s demand for the immediate extradition of Fethullah Gulen is putting a strain on USA relations with Turkey, a crucial Middle East ally and indispensable regional partner in the fight against so-called Islamic State.
Following the July 15 attempted military coup against the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, there have been a number of anti-American protests in Turkey, including at the Incirlik air base, where U.S. troops are stationed.
The newspaper quoted unnamed sources as saying that USA government officials have not been persuaded by Turkish authorities that Gulen was responsible for the violent overthrow attempt on July 15 that left hundreds dead and rocked a key North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally. Washington for its part, has asked for evidence of the cleric’s involvement, and has said the extradition process must be allowed to take its course.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Kerry was scheduled to arrive in Turkey Aug. 24, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Cavusoglu also said it is possible that Vice President Joe Biden will make a separate visit.
On one hand, in its current state, Turkey “in the state it is now in, can not become a member of the European Union”, the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told ARD on Thursday.
Ozhan said “many documents have been sent” and “we are doing our homework in Turkey” where “prosecutors are forming a case”. He added that the Federal Bureau of Investigation should be monitoring Gulen and he should be detained.
Gulen’s USA lawyers on August 5 expressed confidence that he will not be extradited, saying Ankara does not have evidence against Gulen that would satisfy the US legal system.
And human rights group Amnesty International said recently that it has gathered credible evidence that they are being subjected to beatings and torture, including rape. Almost 70,000 people have been suspended from their jobs.
The row between Ankara and Vienna was sparked Wednesday after Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern said in an interview with the public broadcaster ORF that negotiations with Turkey about European Union membership is “fiction”, citing purges that followed the failed military coup on July 15.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that any country “standing by this person will not be a friend of Turkey”. The suspect, identified as Gokhan Acikkolu, was previously hospitalized on July 28 but was returned to the detention center after treatment, the agency said.
On Friday, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev became the first foreign head of state to visit since the failed coup and declared that his country stood in solidarity with Turkey.
Erdogan has said there are 33 Gulen-run schools in the Central Asian republic.
“When we had problems in our relations, there were numerous talks between (Nazarbayev) and Russian President Vladimir Putin”, Erdogan told a joint news conference with Kazakhstan’s leader.
“We know that the democratic standards are clearly not sufficient to justify (Turkey’s) accession”, Kern said in an interview with Austrian broadcaster ORF. “This would not be in our interest”.
Now local branches of the AK Party have been told to begin a purge of suspected Gulenists in their ranks.
Meanwhile, police in Ankara detained a comedian for questioning over his possible ties to the Gulen movement, Anadolu reported.
The crackdown has also expanded to journalists and former employees of Gulen-linked media. It was wrong to abuse anti-terrorism laws, he said, “to stick journalists, academics and others in jail, that’s not on”.
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The Muslim cleric has denounced the arrest warrant as meaningless.
