Gulen extradition to Turkey not on Washington’s agenda, says Trump

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump says the extradition to Turkey of Pennsylvania-based opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom the Ankara government accuses of having masterminded the July 2016 coup attempt, is not on Washington’s agenda.

“No, it’s not under consideration,” Trump told reporters on Saturday.

The remarks came only two day after NBC News reported that the White House was exploring legal methods of extraditing Gulen to Turkey in order to soften the Ankara government’s pressure on Saudi Arabia over the killing of prominent dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed after visiting the kingdom’s consulate in Turkey’s largest city of Istanbul last month. US extradites ex-member of Gueln-linked foundation to Turkey

Meanwhile, a former executive of a foundation affiliated to the Gulen movement has been brought to Turkey. A security source, who asked not to be named, told Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency that Mehmet Salih Gozegir was deported from the US on Friday after he was found guilty of sexual abuse of children.

The source said Gozegir arrived at Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul from Houston under security escort, and he was later referred to police headquarters in the city.

He was one of the board members of the Raindrop Foundation, which is one of the umbrella organizations of the Gulen movement in the US, in 2014. He was detained following a police raid in 2015. Gozegir was later released on $50,000 bail pending trial.

He was subsequently expelled from the foundation board membership, and American officials decided to deport him in June this year. During the 2016 botched putsch, a faction of the Turkish military declared that it had seized control of the country and the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was no more in charge. The attempt was, however, suppressed a few hours later.

Ankara has since accused Gulen of having orchestrated the coup. The opposition figure is also accused of being behind a long-running campaign to topple the government via infiltrating the country’s institutions, particularly the army, police and the judiciary. Gulen has denounced the “despicable putsch” and reiterated that he had no role in it.

“Accusations against me related to the coup attempt are baseless and politically-motivated slanders,” he said in a statement. The 77-year-old cleric has also called on Ankara to end its “witch hunt” of his followers, a move he says is aimed at “weeding out anyone it deems disloyal to President Erdogan and his regime.”

Turkish officials have frequently called on their US counterparts to extradite Gulen, but their demands have not been taken heed of. Turkey has been engaged in suppressing the media and opposition groups suspected to have played a role in the failed coup.

Tens of thousands of people have been arrested in Turkey on suspicion of having links to Gulen and the failed coup. More than 110,000 others, including military staff, civil servants and journalists, have been sacked or suspended from work over the same accusations.

The international community and rights groups have been highly critical of the Turkish president over the massive dismissals and the crackdown.