Turkey pressures U.S. to extradite cleric in Pa.

The Washington Post

ISTANBUL — Turkish leaders on Tuesday stepped up their calls for the United States to punish Fethullah Gulen, the reclusive cleric living in Pennsylvania whose organization is said to be behind the failed July 15 coup attempt that sought to topple President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government.

Officials in Ankara insist that Mr. Gulen had a direct hand in the coup plot, a mutiny led by a faction in the military that led to about 290 deaths before it was quashed.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he would consider an extradition request should Turkey submit “legitimate evidence [of Mr. Gulen’s involvement] that withstands scrutiny.”

His Turkish counterpart, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, said the U.S. needs to take Turkey’s concerns seriously. He added that what the Obama administration does next “may shape the future relations of the two key allies.”

The statements came as Turkey and Russia prepared for efforts to speed up the repair of frayed relations when Mr. Erdogan meets Vladimir Putin for talks in St. Petersburg next month.

Turkey has submitted legal documents to U.S. authorities concerning Mr. Gulen’s activities but says it will formally request his extradition after the country has finished investigating the defeated coup plotters.

Reports in the Turkish media continue to shed light on Mr. Gulen’s supposed role in fomenting the coup attempt. Gen. Hulusi Akar, the country’s chief of staff, detailed in testimony leaked to the news media what happened while he was detained by military officers participating in the putsch.

Gen. Akar said a brigadier general among the mutinous faction offered to “put me in touch with their opinion leader Fethullah Gulen,” Gen. Akar said. The general refused to speak to Mr. Gulen or read out the manifesto the coup plotters had drafted declaring their takeover of the state.