Turkey optimistic of Gülen extradition during Trump's term

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said on Sunday that the Turkish government is optimistic that the United States under President Donald Trump would agree to extradite Fetullah Gülen, the leader of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and mastermind behind the July 15 failed coup attempt last year.

Speaking to the press in the southwestern province of Muğla, Bozdağ said almost 1,360 cases were already filed against FETÖ in Turkey. Adding that, unlike Obama, initial statements by the Trump administration carried positive signals regarding Gülen's extradition.

"It would be naive to assume that a powerful state like the U.S. is not aware of what exactly is going on inside Gülen's mansion in Pennsylvania. They know very well that he is behind the coup attempt. Besides, evidence transmitted by Turkey to U.S. authorities proves Gülen's role beyond any doubt," he said.

"I don't think there has ever been a better prepared file sent to the U.S. than the one on Gülen," Bozdağ claimed.

Turkey officially handed over evidence regarding Gülen and his network to the U.S. last October. FETÖ formed a quasi-state within the Turkish state and attempted to topple the government ultimately with the intent to take over the state via a vicious coup.

Minister Bozdağ traveled to the U.S. and met with his U.S. counterpart, Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Oct. 26, in efforts to expedite Gülen's extradition.

However, despite President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Justice Minister Bozdağ's determined efforts, the Obama administration chose to remain idle and took no action against the U.S.-based terror leader.

Under normal procedures Gülen should already have been arrested, since Turkish authorities issued an official request for his extradition on Sept. 13 under a 1979-treaty between Turkey and the U.S.

The July 15 coup attempt was masterminded by Fetullah Gülen, who has been living in self-imposed exile, on a 400-acre property in the foothills of the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania since 1999.