The United States confirmed Tuesday that Turkey had made a “formal” request for the extradition of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara blames for last month´s coup attempt, but specified the request was not linked to the failed putsch.
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“We can confirm now that Turkey has requested the extradition of Gulen”, a State Department spokesman, Mark Toner, told journalists on Tuesday.
Mr Gulen, who lives in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, has denied any connection to the coup plot and condemned it “in the strongest terms”.
Gulen has denied any connection to the coup plot.
Turkey’s government has repeatedly said the deadly plot, which martyred at least 246 people and injured more than 2,000 others, was organized by followers of USA -based preacher Fetullah Gulen. He declined to provide any details.
Gulen has lived in self-imposed exile in the US since 1999 and is also accused of leading FETO.
The United States has also been concerned by Turkey’s diplomatic flirtations with traditional USA foe Iran.
“I condemn, in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey”, read the two-paragraph statement.
Relations with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally have been strained as the United States expresses concern about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s crackdown in response to the attempted coup. Any such request and United States response, they said, would be governed by the extradition treaty both countries signed in 1981.
Erdogan has previously warned the Obama administration it had to “choose between Turkey and Gülen”.
The U.S. once considered Erdogan a leader interested in promoting democracy and working with America.
Representatives of the US Justice Department are in Turkey to meet with Turkish officials and review the evidence.
The fragile situation in Turkey was compounded over the weekend when a suicide bomber killed at least 54 people at a Kurdish wedding celebration in Gaziantep, near the Syria border. It was the deadliest in a string of attacks this year in Turkey committed by IS or the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
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Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim recently appeared warm to the possibility of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad maintaining a role in a transitional government. For the protection of AP and its licensors, content may not be copied, altered or redistributed in any form.
