PHOTO: Happier times — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his political rival Fethullah Gülen


Turkey’s Foreign Minister and US Secretary of State John Kerry will discuss Ankara’s demand for the extradition of self-exiled cleric Fethullah Gülen.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will raise the issue with Kerry on the sidelines of an international meeting, on the fight against the Islamic State, on Wednesday and Thursday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who split with Gülen in 2013, is accusing the cleric of responsibility for last Friday’s failed coup. He told the US outlet CNN late Monday that the Government will submit a written request for Gülen’s extradition in coming days.

Erdoğan has long accused Gülen of trying to organize “parallel institutions” — including the judiciary, military services, and media — in a “deep state” in an effort to overthrow the Government. Since the failure of the coup, thousands of troops, judges, and officials have been detained or dismissed.

See Turkey Feature: Erdogan Pledges Purge of State Institutions

On Saturday, Erdoğan addressed Barack Obama in a televised: speech:

Mr President, I told you myself, either deport or hand over to us this person who lives in 400 acres of land in Pennsylvania. I told you that he was engaged in coup plots but I was not listened to. Now again today after the coup I say it again.

Kerry cautiously responded that evidence would be needed for any extradition, bringing a sharp response from Prime Minister Binali Yildirim:

We would be disappointed if our friends told us to present proof even though members of the assassin organization are trying to destroy an elected government under the directions of that person.

At this stage there could even be a questioning of our friendship.

Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu and Kerry spoke by phone over the weekend, with the Secretary of State urging the Foreign Minister to restrain Turkish officials accusing the US of being behind the coup.

“Evidence, Not Allegations”

Kerry maintained on Monday at an European Union-US meeting, “The US has a formal process for dealing with extradition requests; Turkey must send evidence, not allegations.”

Responding to the mass detentions and purges of State institutions, the Secretary of State urged the Turkish Government to uphold the rule of law and human rights:

We stand squarely on the side of the elected leadership in Turkey….But we also firmly urge the government of Turkey to maintain calm and stability throughout the country….

We will certainly support bringing the perpetrators of the coup to justice but we also caution against a reach that goes well beyond that.

Initial reports said Kerry had warned that Turkey’s membership of NATO could be at risk if there were widespread abuses; however, the State Department later denied that the Secretary of State had gone so far in his remarks.

Erdogan: “I Escaped Death by Few Minutes”

Erdoğan used the CNN interview to claim that he escaped death by only a few minutes, as he was vacationing in Marmaris in southwestern Turkey.

The President said anti-Government soldiers killed two of his bodyguards when they stormed the resort early Saturday: “Had I stayed 10, 15 additional minutes, I would have been killed or I would have been taken.”

Erdoğan said the coup forces were in control of the towers at Istanbul’s Atatürk International Airport, but his private plane was able to land for the President to give an impromptu press conference, calling on the public to take to the streets in his support.

The President again referred to the possibility of re-introducing the death penalty in light of the attempted coup.

Prime Minister Yildirim said on Saturday that capital punishment, suspended in 1984 and banned in 2004, could be brought back. Since then, Erdoğan and the Government have been more circumspect, saying that they would answer to the will of the people.

Erdoğan told CNN that the coup attempt was a “clear crime of treason…but of course it will take a parliamentary decision for that to take action in the form of a constitutional measure. Leaders will have to get together and discuss it and if they accept to discuss it then I, as President, will approve any decision that comes out of the Parliament.”