Turkey's Erdogan calls on U.S. to extradite rival Gulen

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: Reuters

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday he would ask the United States to extradite an Islamic cleric he accuses of plotting to topple him and undermine Turkey with concocted graft accusations and secret wire taps.

Fethullah Gulen has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1997 when secularist authorities raised accusations of islamist activity against him. He denies engineering a police graft investigation but has denounced Erdogan over moves to shut down the inquiry by purging police and judiciary of his followers.
...
Gulen runs a network of businesses and schools, well-funded and secular in nature, across the world. The schools are a major source of influence and funding and have therefore become the target of government efforts to have them shut down.

Erdogan accuses Gulen of contriving criminal allegations that his son and the children of three ministers were involved in a corruption scandal and took billions of dollars of bribes.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/29/us-turkey-erdogan-idUSBREA3S0A120140429

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It doesn't seem clear to me what extraditable offence is involved here.

[Berlin Expat]

1. "It doesn't seem clear to me what extraditable offence is involved here."

There isn't any. Erdogan has become his own worst enemy.

The AKP, whatever their faults, has shown remarkable astuteness in navigating Turkey through the financial crisis; their growth has been strong, and a good many Turks have a feeling of genuine national pride at the accomplishments over the course of the last decade.

Had Erdogan called it a day three years ago, he would have been remembered as one of the most effective leaders in the Turkish Republic's history.

Now, even his putative allies are becoming concerned that he has overstayed his welcome.

[msanthrope]

2. Hannah Bell, an old, banned troll used to claim a CIA/Gulen

link in her crazy-shit education posts.....

http://upload.democraticunderground.com/10021103506



Here's an epic fail thread about Gulen............


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9606969

[okaawhatever]

3. The story says Turkey would first need to issue an arrest warrant. From Reuters:

Such a move against Fethullah Gulen, whose followers say they number in the millions, would be possible only if Turkey first issued an arrest warrant and produced evidence of a crime, according to one legal expert.