“Turkey is a country that is fond of conspiracy theories and also [has a high] anti-western and xenophobic sentiment”, says Aykan Erdemir, senior fellow at FDD and a former Turkish parliamentarian.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blames the reclusive cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in the US state of Pennsylvania, for orchestrating a July 15 putsch to unseat him, and has urged Astana to purge Gulen followers in 33 Gulen-run schools in Kazakhstan.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that USA will be held responsible in case Gulen fled its territories.
The American ambassador to Turkey has said Washington was not involved in last month’s failed military coup attempt against the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Washington has stated that Turkey must present evidence of the cleric’s involvement in order for the extradition process to begin. He has also ordered a state of emergency and said U.S. The U.S. Justice Department is still reviewing the documents that Ankara submitted to see if they meet the criteria for a formal extradition request, the State Department said late Thursday.
A leading Turkish-American NGO has taken out an advert in a major US newspaper calling for the world to stand by Turkey’s democratically elected government after the defeated coup of July 15.
Erdi Safar, a 27-year-old mainland Turk, said Erdogan is a strong leader that won’t allow Turkey to be plunged into chaos like what has happened in other countries. “I wonder how will the USA justify itself if Gulen escaped the US territories”, added Erdogan. We do not want that.
The Turkish-American National Steering Committee (TASC) in Saturday’s one-page New York Times advert said: “Because defending democracy in Turkey is also defending democracy in the US and in the world”.
Ankara’s crackdown on suspected dissidents in the wake of last month’s coup attempt has raised concern among European leaders and cast uncertainty over the future of EU’s ties with Turkey. “And these tortured confessions that they are expecting, that wouldn’t work in a US court either”, Weingarten said.
Over 60,000 people from the military, judiciary, civil service and education have been dismissed, detained or put under investigation for suspected links to the Gulen movement.
Erdogan has also described the failed military action as a “scenario written from outside” in an allusion to foreign involvement.
However, diplomacy and policy aside, very few states have said anything at all about Amnesty International’s recent findings regarding potential human rights abuses.
Turkey angrily rejects European Union criticism that its post-coup purges might violate rights norms Ankara must meet under the agreement in return for visa-free travel for Turks and accelerated negotiations for bloc membership.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, told Anadolu Agency that police carried out an operation to detain 31 lawyers in the capital Ankara, 16 of whom were now in detention. In response to the charges, Gulen voiced his belief that “the Turkish court system is without judicial independence, so this warrant is yet another example of President Erdogan’s drive for authoritarianism and away from democracy”.
Nazarbayev said the schools in question were strictly controlled by the Kazakh state and that 90 percent of the teachers were Kazakh nationals.
“To be honest, I find it extremely disturbing that this kind of statement bears such similarity to the statements of right-wing extremists in Europe”, Celik said Thursday, as cited by Turkey’s governmental Anadolu news agency.
“Erdogan is like a magician with his followers”, said Burak Kadercan, a Turkey scholar at the U.S. Naval War College. “This would not be in our interest”.
Turkey has listed Mr Gulen’s movement as a terrorist organisation.
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Gulen may not face extradition back to Turkey, according to a report Friday by the Wall Street Journal. It didn’t specify when or where she was arrested.
