US invites Turkey to present any coup evidence against Fethulla Gulen
Kerry says no extradition request received for reclusive US-based cleric blamed by Erdogan for failed takeover attempt
US Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday that the United States will assist Turkey in the investigation of a failed coup and invited Ankara to share any evidence it has against a US-based opposition figure Fethullah Gulen.
Speaking in Luxembourg, Kerry said Washington had not yet received a formal extradition bid for the expatriate cleric, but added: “We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr Gulen.”
Gulen, a reclusive Islamic preacher with a worldwide following who is regularly accused of a behind the scenes role in Turkish politics, lives in a tiny town in the Pocono Mountains of the US state of Pennsylvania.
He has been accused by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of being behind the Thursday’s boody coup attempt, although he has denied any role and condemned the miliary uprising “in the strongest terms.”
Kerry who spoke late Friday to his Turkish opposite number Mevlut Cavusoglu by telephone, said: “We haven’t received any request with respect to Mr Gulen.
“And obviously we invited the government of Turkey as we always do to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny and the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments about it appropriately.
And, standing alongside Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn outside the country’s foreign ministry, he added: “I’m confident that there will be some discussion about that.”
Trained as an imam, or prayer leader, Fethullah Gulen gained notice in Turkey some 50 years ago, promoting a philosophy that blended a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue. Supporters started 1,000 schools in more than 100 countries, including about 150 taxpayer-funded charter schools throughout the US. In Turkey, they have run universities, hospitals, charities, a bank and a large media empire with newspapers and radio and TV stations.
Erdogan has long accused Gulen of plotting to overthrow the officially secular government from a gated 26-acre compound in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. Gulen is rarely seen in public and has been put on trial in absentia at least three times.
Some of the US schools have been investigated by the FBI amid allegations of financial mismanagement and visa fraud. One of the most explosive claims is that the schools are importing Turkish teachers to identify impressionable students and indoctrinate them into Gulen’s movement, sometimes called Hizmet, Turkish for “service.” In May, a complaint filed with Texas education officials accused a network of charter schools associated with the Gulen movement of abusing a visa program to import large numbers of Turkish teachers and violating state and federal laws by paying them more than American teachers.
The complaint also asserted that the network, Harmony Public Schools, skirts competitive bidding rules to award contracts to Turkish vendors. Harmony has denounced the complaint as politically motivated and without merit.
The US has shown little inclination to send Gulen back to Turkey. The Justice Department has declined to comment on Gulen’s case.
The Times of Israel Community.