Turkish parliamentarians visiting U.S. say not returning Gulen will affect "regional stability"

Record ID: 92958

  • Title: Turkish parliamentarians visiting U.S. say not returning Gulen will affect "regional stability"
  • Date: 1st August 2016
  • Summary: WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES (AUGUST 1, 2016) (REUTERS) WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE BY TURKISH PARLIAMENTARIANS JOURNALISTS AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHAIRMAN OF TURKISH FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE, TAHA OZHAN, SAYING: "Washington not returning Gulen to Turkey would not merely be a matter of relations between two countries, it is intimately and directly connec
  • Embargoed: 16th August 2016 23:41
  • Keywords: Turkey Gulen coup Obama administration NATO
  • Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
  • City: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0014TAQ4P3
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Turkish parliamentarians visiting the U.S. warned on Monday (August 1) that the failure to return opposition figure Fethullah Gulen, who Turkey says is behind a failed coup attempt, will affect "regional stability" and is "unacceptable" from an ally.
    Turkey has been angered by the West's response to the July 15th coup attempt and an apparent U.S. reluctance to hand over the cleric it says was responsible.
    On Monday (August 1) America's highest-ranking military officer sought to soothe strained ties with Turkey, a NATO ally. Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford met with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in Ankara.
    Condemning the failed coup in Turkey, Dunford, the principal military adviser to the American president, said his visit was to show solidarity and added that the United States supports Turkish democracy, a statement from Yildirim's office said.
    In Washington a delegation of Turkish MPs held a news conference at the Turkish embassy.
    The Chairman of the Turkish Foreign Relations Committee, Taha Ozhan, said that it is essential Gulen be handed over.
    "Washington not returning Gulen to Turkey would not merely be a matter of relations between two countries, it is intimately and directly connection to the regional stability. At a time when the power struggle is at its height the possibility that the man responsible for a bloody coup attempt in Turkey should remain in an allied country and possibly escape the U.S. without being arrested is unacceptable," he said.
    The fallout from the abortive coup on July 15, in which more than 230 people died as mutinous soldiers commandeered fighter jets, helicopters and tanks, has deepened a rift between Ankara and its Western allies.
    President Tayyip Erdogan and many Turks have been frustrated by U.S. and European criticism of a government crackdown in the aftermath of the attempted putsch in a country vital to the U.S.-led fight against Islamic State and to stopping illegal migration to Europe.
    Gulen's network of followers in the military and state institutions are blamed by Erdogan for orchestrating the coup plot.
    The 75-year-old cleric, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, denies involvement in the failed coup.
    President Barack Obama has said Washington will extradite him only if Turkey provides evidence of wrongdoing.
    Ozhan said on Monday that Gulen's involvement in the attempted coup was beyond dispute.
    "Right now through testimonies through different actors, from a teacher to judge, from a high level military personnel to police, we know clearly that he is responsible for this horrendous act. And if you go to Turkey more than 90 percent, or almost close to 100 percent people thinks that he is behind this coup. And there is a reason for that, and that shall be understood. But it is not easy. This is a esoteric organization, type of apocalyptic structure. Not easy to understand. But we know very well from his statements, his followers statements, they are directly involved, ordered, organized this bloody attempt," he said.
    Ozhan also said that Turkey will send the United States new evidence within weeks, "if not days," proving that Gulen ordered the coup.
    The evidence will be more recent than the documents Turkey has sent the U.S. Justice Department so far, which all date from before July 15 and will include testimony and intercepted messages from alleged plotters who have been detained in Turkey, according to Ozhan.
    More than 60,000 people in the military, judiciary, civil service and education have been detained, suspended or placed under investigation since the coup, prompting fears that Erdogan is cracking down on all dissent.
    The scale of the purges, which have seen around 40 percent of generals and admirals dismissed, along with suggestions from officials that the death penalty may be reintroduced, have alarmed Western states nervous about Erdogan's tightening grip.
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