Deputy PM: Turkey, US working on Gülen's extradition
by Anadolu Agency
NEW YORKSep 08, 2016 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Anadolu Agency
Sep 08, 2016 12:00 am
Turkish and American officials are cooperating on Fethullah Gülen's extradition from the U.S., Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said Tuesday during a live interview on CNN's New Day program in New York. "We have good improvements. We have a bilateral commission between Turkey and the U.S. judiciary officials. They are working on the files," he added
The deputy prime minister said Turkey had clear evidence of Gülen's strong links to the July 15 coup attempt. Asked if Turkey believes the U.S. was involved in the overthrow attempt, Kurtulmuş was dismissive. "No, no. It is Fethullah Gülen," he said as he explained what Ankara wants from Washington.
"Our expectation from the U.S. government is either to extradite or detain him. We have sent so many pieces of evidence to U.S. officials, so it is now in the hands of the U.S. judicial system," he said. Syria was also discussed during the interview, as Kurtulmuş stressed that Turkey continues to handle millions of refugees from the war-torn country. Turkey has so far accepted more than 3 million refugees from Syria since March 2011, which he said was equivalent to the total number of refugees the U.S. has accepted during the last 50 years. "So, it is really a huge burden for Turkey," he said. "We already spent more than $15 billion on the refugees … without having a solution for Syrian peace, we cannot stop Syrian refugees from coming to Turkey and coming to European continent."
Kurtulmuş also visited the Asia Society in New York City and spoke at a conference on Tuesday. Kurtulmuş characterized the foiling of the attempted putsch as an "unprecedented victory in Turkish history." "When Turks come together they can defy tanks, bombs and intense shelling that claim innocent lives," he added. The deputy prime minister said Ankara expects Washington to extradite the coup mastermind, Fethullah Gülen, who has been living in Pennsylvania in self-imposed exile since 1999. It is "not a question of time but a question of intention," Kurtulmuş said of the extradition process, adding that Ankara was "much more optimistic now" about its outcome. FETÖ is also a "threat to the United State,s, Kurtulmuş said during an interview with Turkish state broadcaster TRT after the conference. "The group operates nearly 150 schools in the U.S., one third of which are concentrated in the state of Texas where they face a corruption investigation. FETÖ also has ostensibly educational and cultural institutions in nearly 170 countries around the world where they are trying to influence the governing agencies, and if possible, take control of them."
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