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President Trump said on Saturday that he was not planning to extradite a dissident, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accusing his involvement in a failed coup d'etat.
Tatyana Zenkovich / AP
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Tatyana Zenkovich / AP
President Trump said on Saturday that he was not planning to extradite a dissident, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accusing his involvement in a failed coup d'etat.
Tatyana Zenkovich / AP
President Trump on Saturday slapped reports that his government was planning to extradite an enemy of Turkish-based President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Pennsylvania to dispel tensions between Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
According to Erdogan, Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish monk settled in Pennsylvania since the late 1990s, was involved in a failed coup in 2016. The government has asked that the United States send him back to Turkey.
This week, NBC News, citing four anonymous sources, announced that the White House was considering expelling Gulen. According to the report, the White House was seeking to "appease Turkey" and "persuade Erdogan to release pressure on the Saudi government" after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
"This is not in the study," Trump said. "We are having a great time with Turkey," said the president, adding that he had good relations with Erdogan. "He's a friend of mine, a strong man, a strong man and a smart man."
In October, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he talked about Gulen to Turkish officials. "We talked about Fethullah Gulen … it's something the Turks often remind us of, and we're aware of where we can work with them to make sure we all have a common set of facts", he added. I said.
Heather Nauert, spokeswoman for the state department, told reporters Thursday that the agency had received numerous requests from the Turkish government to extradite Gulen and "continue to evaluate the documents."
She added that some reports "try to confuse the two, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, with Khashoggi and Gulen".
The Justice Ministry denied Friday that it had planned an extradition agreement, according to Reuters.
"Turkey has at no point offered to suspend the investigation of the Khashoggi case in exchange for the extradition of Fethullah Gulen," said a senior Turkish official to the newspaper. "We have no intention of intervening in the investigation on Khashoggi in exchange for a political or legal favor".
Over the years, anti-Gulen rhetoric has become a pillar of Turkish pro-government media. The Gulen religious movement has been commonly called FETO, "Fethullah Terrorist Organization", and it is commonly referred to as "Terrorism Cult," reported Peter Kenyon, of NPR.
Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty last year for lying to the FBI, lobbied for Turkey while advising the Trump campaign. On polling day, he issued an article calling on the United States to stop hosting Gulen, "a shady Islamic mullah," whose "global network has all the marks to match the description of one." dangerous terrorist network ".
Gulen, an Islamic scholar, denied any involvement in the 2016 coup in Turkey, which left tens of thousands of people arrested and more than 100,000 fired.
Last year, he met with NPR to comment on Turkey's extradition efforts. "I think the United States is aware of its reputation for democracy and the rule of law.If they are willing to risk this reputation by extraditing me on the basis of demand and claims. from Turkey, I will never say no, "he said. . "I would go willingly."
