The extradition of Fethullah Gülen, who has been living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, has always been a point of friction between the United States and Turkey, a strategically important North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally whose help is crucial to the fight against the Islamic State.
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Turkish and American justice officials met on Tuesday to discuss Turkey’s demands for the extradition of a USA -based cleric accused of masterminding last month’s failed coup attempt.
“The vice president will also reaffirm that the United States is doing everything we can to support Turkey’s ongoing efforts to hold accountable those responsible for the coup attempt while ensuring the rule of law is respected during the process”, a senior Obama administration official told reporters, briefing ahead of Biden’s visit on condition of anonymity.
Turkey says the United States is legally bound by a treaty to immediately hand over Fethullah Gulen, the USA -based Muslim cleric it accuses of plotting to overthrow Turkey’s government.
Ankara will probably send the United States a coup-related extradition request for Gulen next week, the Turkish justice minister said on Wednesday. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday that some Justice Department officials were set to travel to Turkey this week to meet with their counterparts to review some of the materials that have been produced by Turkish officials.
“We are now considering the merits of the request”, Toner said.
Yildirim said if the process of extraditing Gulen is expedited, Turkish people’s disappointment would be dispelled “very quickly”.
The process generally unfolds in secret, with countries inclined to avoid tipping off subjects of their extradition requests.
The United States has made it clear to Syrian Kurdish forces that they must return to east of the Euphrates river after seizing control of the Syrian town of Manbij to retain USA support, Vice President Joe Biden said on Wednesday.
“We can confirm now that Turkey has requested the extradition of Mr Gulen”.
“When you go into an American court you can not say “this is a bad guy”. As the vice president spoke, the Turkish leader sat back in his chair, stone-faced.
The official said the Turks had not yet provided extradition requests related to Gulen’s alleged involvement with the coup attempt on July 15, nor provided evidence of his connection to it.
The perception of a slow response by Washington has angered Erdogan and sparked an outpouring of anti-Americanism from pro-government media.
Biden, who arrived in Turkey on Wednesday, was guided by Turkish officials around the parliament, which was damaged during the coup attempt. For years, both Turkey and the US have called for Assad’s ouster, insisting he can’t be part of Syria’s future government.
Biden should not hesitate to reassure Erdogan once again that the two nations share vital interests, not the least of which are fighting the Islamic State and ending the conflagration that has consumed Syria. This has led to the assumption that the United States extradition would be largely based on what they are able to dig up on Gulen, and not Turkey’s own allegations.
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Gulen has been living in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999 and is sought by Ankara for masterminding last month’s deadly coup attempt.
