After Turkey’s public criticism of the USA and its threats, the country submitted a formal request to the U.S. today, demanding that exiled cleric, Fetullah Gulen, be extradited as Turkey blames him for planning last month’s failed coup attempt. Gulen has denied the charge and condemned the coup.
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Bilgic said Turkey’s measures following the coup have been consistent with the fundamental principles of rule of law and human rights and repeated Ankara’s calls for the Commissioner to visit the country.
“Improving our relations with the United States depends on the extradition of Gulen, and on that issue there is no room for negotiation”, Yildrim said, according to CNN Turk.
They are suspected of links to US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen who Ankara blames for the putsch against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the night of July 15. Washington has been cautious, saying it needs clear evidence and a U.S. Department of Justice team is expected in Turkey later this month. The football is believed to be residing in the United States.
Turkey’s Justice Ministry passed on the letter to the USA, which accuses Gulen of 10 charges including attempting to overthrow the government, according to reports.
“If a tenth of the accusations against me are established, I pledge to return to Turkey and serve the heaviest sentence”, he said in an opinion piece in French daily Le Monde.
The PM said a total of 81,494 people including judges, soldiers and civil servants have either been suspended or sacked since the July 15 coup attempt.
Despite the global outcry over his government’s actions, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s popularity has soared as nationalist sentiment rose following the failed coup. More than 35,000 people have been detained for questioning while tens of thousands of others have been dismissed from government jobs, including in the judiciary, media, education, healthcare, military and local government.
The scope of the crackdown now appears to be even worrying some in the ruling party. Turkish officials counter they are confronting an major internal threat.
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In the past, he has been accused of being the leader of an organisation that illegally tapped into the conversations of Erdogan and Ahmet Davutoglu, the former prime minister.
