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The Trump administration is examining ways to remove an enemy of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the United States to appease Turkey after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to a report by NBC News.
Two senior US officials and two other people informed of the requests told NBC that government officials last month asked law enforcement agencies – including the Justice Department and the FBI – to review the legal means. to dismiss the Turkish religious in exile, Fethullah Gulen.
This measure would be an attempt to urge Erdogan to reduce pressure on the Saudi government.
The White House reportedly sent directives to the Justice Ministry and the FBI to reopen Turkey's case concerning Gulen's extradition. Officials also asked the Department of Homeland Security for information on its legal status.
All four said the White House wanted details on Gulen's resident status in the country. Gulen has a green card and has been living in Pennsylvania since the late 1990s, NBC reported.
US officials and people informed of the demands said the agency's career managers had rejected the White House's demands.
"At first, the eyes got up, but once they realized it was a serious request, the guys in their careers were furious," NBC told a senior US official involved in the process.
A Turkish official told NBC that the killing of Khashoggi and the extradition case of Gulen are not related in terms of Ankara's concerns.
"We do not see any connection between the two," said the manager. "We want action to be taken at the end of the United States regarding Gulen's extradition. And we will continue our investigation on behalf of the Khashoggi case. "
The Trump administration seeks to appease hostility between the two countries – the two key US allies – after Khashoggi's assassination by Saudi officials October 2 at the country's consulate in Istanbul.
Turkey said it was tortured, murdered and dismembered by Saudi agents on the orders of "the highest level of the Saudi government".
After initial denials, the kingdom admitted last month that Khashoggi had been killed and that his assassination was premeditated, but that de facto Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was not involved.
The assassination of Khashoggi, an American resident and a Washington Post columnist criticizing the Saudi leadership, provoked diplomatic conflicts between Saudi Arabia and the United States.
The kingdom is a long-time ally of the United States and the United States supported it in a proxy war against Iran in Yemen. President Trump
Donald John TrumpTalk the lawyer that Democrats call the end of countdown Avenatti denies allegations of domestic violence: "I've never hit a woman" Trump appoints a handbag designer ambassador to Africa South MORE also expects Saudis that they help to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.
But Erdogan has the means to try to derail the relationship and said earlier that Turkey had transmitted to various governments, including the United States, records relating to the killing of Khashoggi.
Erdogan has also repeatedly accused Prince Mohammed of organizing the murder of Khashoggi.
But Trump hesitated to react too firmly in Saudi Arabia given the power of the nation and its economic and strategic value to the United States. Billions of dollars in US arms sales to Saudi Arabia are in preparation.
Trump said last week that he was working with both allies and Congress in order to decide next steps and that he would have a "much stronger opinion" on the killing of Khashoggi next week.
Erdogan has asked the United States to send Gulen back to Turkey for years, accusing the cleric of being a terrorist who was behind a failed coup against Erdogan's government in 2016.
Gulen has been living in voluntary exile in the United States for nearly two decades and has denied any involvement in the failed coup d'etat.
After the murder of Khashoggi, Turkish officials told the secretary of state Mike Pompeo
Michael (Mike) Richard PompeoTrump appoints designer ambassador handbags in South Africa Senators back in Washington, determined to take action against the Saudis State Department, believe the missing American journalist is alive in Syria: report En know more that they wanted the Trump administration extradite Gulen. The request came during a meeting between Pompeo and Erdogan on October 17 in Ankara.
Pompeo later admitted to discussing Gulen with Turkish officials.
"We talked about Fethullah Gulen and all the problems related to this organization," said Pompeo. "This is something that Turks often remind us of and we are aware of where we can work with them to make sure we all have a set of shared facts. But this is not usually a State Department affair; it is mainly a problem of the Ministry of Justice. "
US officials and people close to the case said the administration had told Erdogan that officials would review Gulen.
Officials from the Ministry of Justice and the FBI have not found evidence permitting the extradition of Gulen. Such an approach forces US prosecutors to determine that someone has committed crimes abroad that would also be illegal in the United States.
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