A court in Turkey has issued an arrest warrant for Fethullah Gulen, a US-based opposition cleric blamed by the Ankara government for the failed military coup in the country last month.
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Erdogan vowed on Thursday to choke off the businesses, while an Istanbul court issued an arrest warrant for Gulen for “giving the instructions” for the coup attempt, in which more than 230 people were killed.
Earlier in the day, Erdogan said in a speech live from the presidential palace that businesses linked to Gulen would also come under scrutiny and would be cut off.
The government says renegade officers in Turkey’s military who had links to Gulen staged the coup on his orders.
Gulen’s statement comes after the court issued a warrant against him for allegedly “giving instructions” for the coup.
Though a sharp critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his former ally, Gulen has denied any involvement with the failed coup and condemned the July 15 military uprising.
Turkey’s government accuses US -based preacher Fetullah Gulen and his FETO terrorist organization of organizing the foiled coup and has sent the USA two official requests for his extradition to face trial.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said Washington would consider an extradition request, but that there would have to be compelling evidence of Gulen’s guilt before he would be extradited.
He said that there have been federal investigations of Gulen’s movement and enterprises associated with him, and that there is evidence he is not “some pastoral imam” but someone very involved in business and politics. Gulen faces multiple charges, including treason, all of which he denies. The arrest warrant may be the first step in the formal process. There is no doubt a pillar of this organisation is the business world.
More than 270 people, not including coup plotters, died and thousands were wounded as mutinous soldiers commandeered fighter jets, helicopters and tanks in the failed attempt to topple the government.
“At the moment, those captured are just the tip of the iceberg, others continue working”.
Erdogan announced after talks with Nazarbayev that the two agreed that education authorities from both countries should carry out a joint review of 33 schools in the Central Asian nation which Turkey suspects to be linked to Gulen. “Efforts are continuing for others”.
Erdogan yesterday also vowed to choke off businesses linked to the USA -based cleric, describing his schools, firms and charities as “nests of terrorism” and promising no mercy in rooting them out.
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At the same event, he also said it was imperative for the country to remain vigilant and chase down Gulen followers. “In Africa, we know that they work as nurseries (for terror) and we want to warn them”.
