“We will abide by our system”.
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Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim (R) and US Vice President Joe Biden (L) hold a joint press conference following their meeting on August 24, 2016 at the Cankaya Palace in Ankara.
USA authorities were reviewing the documents sent by Ankara and have insisted on seeing “all evidence” before considering the request.
“We have no. interest whatsoever in protecting anyone who has done harm to an ally”. “But we need to meet legal standard requirements under our law”. He promised that Washington would work closely with the Turkish government on the case.
“The rhetoric has been so harsh on the Turkish side”, said Bulent Aliriza, director of the Turkey project at the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Yildirim added that Turkey would not accept any Kurdish enclave in Syria as it would represent a threat to its national security. USA leaders were incensed when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the United States of either supporting or backing the coup.
He also noted that the evidence presented in Turkey’s extradition request was related to events before the July 15 coup.
“The US administration, President Obama and Mr”.
Washington has said it needs clear evidence to extradite Gulen.
“None”, Biden said. But the standards required under USA law must be met, he said.
Turkey has demanded that he be placed in provisional detention and returned to Turkey to face charges, but Washington insists that any evidence be brought before a USA court under normal extradition proceedings.
“Were a president to attempt to do that, it would be an impeachable offense”, he said.
“Under American law no president of the United States has authority to extradite anyone on his own power”.
“We can confirm now that Turkey has requested the extradition of Gulen”, U.S. State Department spokesperson Mark Toner said at a news briefing.
A senior USA administration official had previewed Biden’s visit, saying the Turks have submitted four separate extradition requests for Gulen but that none are related to his direct involvement in inspiring the coup.
Turkey also has significant leverage in Syria as the host of over two million Syrian refugees and a key stakeholder in the transit of further asylum seekers to Europe. Biden called the coup’s perpetrators “terrorists”, reflecting Erdogan’s language, and said, “I wish I could have been here earlier”.
“Let’s give them some time”. “There are a lot of things going on right now in our relationship and neither one of us can afford to have that relationship be too strained at the moment”.
Meeting later with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Biden sought to counter head-on Turkish disappointment that Western officials had not come sooner to express solidarity after the coup. U.S. forces have relied on Incirlik for launching air strikes and conducting surveillance and reconnaissance missions against the terror group.
In the past, Biden has paid tribute to Turkey’s importance as a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally and cornerstone of a region in turmoil.
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“Can you imagine us being happy with another military state [in Turkey]?”
