Trump working on Gulen’s extradition, Turkey claims

United States President Donald Trump has told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that his administration is working on the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, the mastermind of July 2016 coup attempt, the Turkish foreign minister said, informing about an ongoing FBI probe on FETÖ’s tax evasion.

“In Argentina, Trump told Erdogan they were working on extraditing [Fethullah] Gulen and other people,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Chavushoghlu told a forum yesterday in Doha, referring to the G20 summit where the leaders met two weeks ago, Hurriyet Daily News reports.

Turkey has long been pressing on its NATO ally for the extradition of Gulen, the leader FETÖ that is widely believed to have led the deadly failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016.

The NBC reported last month that the White House was looking for ways to extradite Gülen in order to placate Turkey over the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, in a development that followed the release of US Pastor Andrew Brunson. But, Trumphad denied the report stressing the US administration was not considering the extradition of Gulen.

Turkey and the US established a working group to work on bilateral legal issues that have long been straining ties between the two allies. Following the release of Brunson, Turkey has begun voicing its demands for Gulen’s extradition and resolving the Halkbank case louder. Trump and Erdogan met two times in November first in France and then in Argentina where they discussed all the aspects of these bilateral matters.

Turkey does not want only Gulen’s extradition but also the suspension of FETÖ’s activities on the U.S. soil, including the charter schools from which the organization reportedly earns more than $500 million annually. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has launched a probe on FETO activities, including its financial transactions.

“I have recently seen a credible probe by the FBI on how the Gülen organization avoids taxes,” Çavuşoğlu said.

On questions about the murder of Khashoggi and Turkey’s probe, Çavuşoğlu reiterated his government’s determinacy in reaching a conclusion but slammed many Europeans countries for ignoring the case.

“Many European countries, who are promoting freedom of media, freedom of expression, are closing their eyes,” he said, adding that Turkey has been in cooperation with almost all prominent countries who were willing to do so.

He also said that CIA director Gina Haspel had visited Ankara and that it is now up to the US and the EU to take further action.

“They have also listened to the voice records ... now it is up to them. I am sure they have more information. “They have all the intelligence, they have all the details,” he added.