Turkey asks US to arrest, extradite Fethullah Gülen
Turkey has asked the United States to immediately detain and extradite Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who lives in rural Pennsylvania and is accused of orchestrating the failed July 15 coup attempt, Hurriyet Daily news reported.
According to the source, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said on July 19 that his government had sent four files to the United States.
“We have sent four dossiers to the United States for the extradition of the terrorist chief. We will present them with even more evidence than they want,” Yıldırım vowed at a parliamentary group meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said the files sent to the U.S. did not include charges about the July 15 coup attempt, as the investigation is still ongoing.
“Our ministry has delivered the files both to the Interior Ministry and the Foreign Ministry to be delivered to the U.S.,” Bozdağ told reporters.
Bozdağ said the extradition request related to two ongoing cases at Istanbul courts, case in Ankara and one case in Bursa, all of which ruled for the arrest of Gülen, accused of being “the leader of an armed terrorist organization” and “conspiring to overthrow the government.”
The source details, that Gülen had been a close ally of the government until recently, and has lived in the United States since 1999.
He is accused by the government of infiltrating state institutions including the police department, the judiciary and the military under direct orders from the cleric.