On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued an ultimatum to the U.S., saying it must choose between Turkey and the Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is now based in the U.S.
The ultimatum was given at a gathering in Ankara, Turkey’s capital. The gathering was the last in a series of pro-democracy rallies. “Sooner or later the US will make a choice […] either the coup-plotting terrorist FETO [term used by non-Gulenists to describe the Gulen Movement] or the democratic country Turkey. The [US] has to make this choice,” Erdogan said
Gulen, age 75, has been accused by Erdogan’s government as being the mastermind behind the attempted coup on July 15th in Turkey. The former imam is also a writer, Islamist theologian, and political figure. He founded the Gulen Movement, which has been described as a “moderate blend of Islam,” and which encourages technological progress and commerce.
Gulen was a supporter of Erdogan as the latter rose to power, but somewhere along the way the two had a falling out and became bitter rivals. Erdogan claims that Gulen created a “parallel state” in Turkey in the form of a network of Turkish officials. Faced with a life sentence in Turkey, Gulen self-imposed exile on himself and settled in Pennsylvania in 1999.
Gulen has fiercely denied the claims of his involvement. In response to Erdogan’s accusations of his key role in the coup, Gulen has alleged that the Turkish president could have staged it himself for his own personal gain, in order to create an excuse to hunt down his rivals. Erdogan has called that claim, “non-sensical”.
U.S. President Obama has said that the cleric would only be extradited as a result of “a legal process,” only if the extradition request is found to be justified according to the relevant laws and treaties. Even though an extradition treaty does exist between Turkey and the U.S., the extradition process is usually a delicate and complex one.
