Turkey Tells U.S. Keeping Gülen is a ‘Hostile Act’
Gülen counters by saying the failed coup attempt was staged
Turkish authorities have demanded the U.S. extradite Fethullah Gülen, leader of the Gülen Movement, because they believe he orchestrated the coup. They even said keeping him in the states is a “hostile act” towards the regime:
“I do not see any country that would stand behind this man, this leader of the terrorist gang especially after last night. The country that would stand behind this man is no friend to Turkey. It would even be a hostile act against Turkey,” Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım told reporters at a press conference on July 16 as the coup attempt has been foiled earlier in the day.
Secretary of State John Kerry told Yıldırım he would look over Turkey’s request, but also warned them not use this kind of rhetoric against the U.S.:
Secretary Kerry also urged restraint by the Turkish government and respect for due process — and its international obligations — as it investigates and uncovers additional information about those involved. He made clear that the United States would be willing to provide assistance to Turkish authorities conducting this investigation, but that public insinuations or claims about any role by the United States in the failed coup attempt are utterly false and harmful to our bilateral relations.
Kerry also insisted the U.S. did not have knowledge of a planned coup against Erdoğan:
“If you’re planning a coup, you don’t exactly advertise to your partners in NATO,” Kerry said. “So it surprised everyone. It does not appear to be a very brilliantly planned or executed event.”
One Turkish official told the Associated Press that the government will start a formal extradition request, adding the coup is just “one more thing to add to an already extensive list.”
Gülen remained an ally of Erdoğan until 2013 when the courts launched a corruption investigation against the then-prime minister. Erdoğan quickly squashed the investigation, but blamed his old ally “for orchestrating the scandal.”
As The Wall Street Journal pointed out, the conversation “exposed longstanding tensions between the two governments.” Erdoğan has long been a thorn in the side of his NATO allies. As prime minister and president he has squashed freedom of speech by jailing and fining anyone who insults him. He has also put restrictions on social media while taking over private media companies who dare question his regime.
Now Gülen has come out to say that Erdoğan staged the coup as a power grab:
“I don’t believe that the world believes the accusations made by President Erdoğan,” Gülen said. “There is a possibility that it could be a staged coup and it could be meant for further accusations [against Gülen and his followers].”
He does not understand why anyone would think he would start a military coup since he fell victim to the coups in the 1990s. He went on a self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania in 1999 to escape possible charges against the then-Turkish government and showed a desire to make the country an Islamic state:
“After military coups in Turkey,” he said, “I have been pressured and I have been imprisoned. I have been tried and faced various forms of harassment.”
He added: “Now that Turkey is on the path to democracy, it cannot turn back.”
Asked by the Guardian whether he would have returned to Turkey had the coup been successful, Gülen said: “Indeed, I miss my homeland a lot. But there is another important factor, which is freedom. I am here, away from the political troubles in Turkey and I live with my freedom.”
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Betting pool: how long until Obama surrenders this guy? Three days? A week? A month?
“In a response to a disrespectful internet video made by Gulen about President Erdoğan , we are sending him back to certain imprisonment and death…errrr….justice in Turkey”
The answer I expect is “Show us your evidence of his involvement, and we don’t just mean battered supporters looking blearily into a camera and reciting the confession they’re being forced to say.” We’re talking electronic intercepts, paper letters, recorded (non-forged) phone calls, etc… or it won’t happen.
So E. threatens to cut us off from the airfield. Big deal. O can blame that on the Republicans. Besides, he’s phoning in the last six months of his administration. Leave the mess for the next poor sucker. Just don’t cave on pen-and-phone amnesty.
After all, if he caves on sending this person back to his home country, there’s a long, long list of others much like him who probably deserve a trip home more.
He’s a good Muslim, so send him into ISIS-land.
The Turks can go get him if they want him badly enough. Win-win.
This coup has all the marks of having been staged. As a means of paying back enemies, real or perceived, of settling scores, and of clearing the decks of possible obstacles. Think of Hitler’s famous Night of the Long Knives (1934).
While I have grave doubts concerning the sincerity of any oath taken by a Muslim as part of the process of getting a legal status in the US (because, as they repeatedly tell us, their allegiance is to Islam solely, and that any manmade law such as our Constitution can NEVER be superior to the law/Shariah of their Allah), I would still choose to respect the processes we have in America and afford due process to this Gulen character.
The same is true of any Christian or Jew. Anybody who believes in a Creator Who has communicated with mankind and given us certain laws must put those laws above any manmade ones. Any oath a believer gives to Caesar is understood to be subject to his prior obligation to God, as he understands it. If Caesar orders him to do that which he believes God to have forbidden, he has no choice but to refuse.
I guess you must have forgotten that our Constitution was written by mostly Christian and Jewish men. Most of the laws that were adopted came from Christian/Jewish teachings. There is no retribution or mention of a faith that one must have to exist. You sound like so many “Intellectuals” who are so smart that they know all and see all. Modern Christianity was founded on the New Testament where Jesus’ love was the basis for the doctrine. islam has no such love ever mentioned and is mostly punishment for those who do not toe the islamic line. Show me where there is a Christian or Jewish faith-based group that does anything like that.
One of the commandments of the Hebrew Bible is the prohibition of giving false witness. Exodus 20. Be truthful. This method of rightful living is designed to prevent slander and perversion of justice.
Further, in the case of the Christian, the Book of James is equally clear on this point. “Above all, brothers, do not swear oaths by heaven, by earth, or by any other object. Instead, let your “Yes” mean yes and your “No” mean no! Otherwise, you may fall under condemnation.”
With Islam, lying in the cause or advancement of Islam is institutionalized through the concept of taqiyya.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
“That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”
According to our Declaration of Independence, Government is established as an agreement among the People, for ordering their relations amongst themselves. God has nothing to do with it. God is, however, the source of our inalienable rights, and the People establish a government to secure those rights.
We should have known: New Ties Emerge Between Clinton And Mysterious Islamic Cleric
John Kerry is our chief diplomat. It is not his job to inflame tensions. He gave the right diplomatic answer.
What is going on in Turkey is very bad. It was previously sliding into Islamist autocracy — now it is plummeting there. Erdogan is shaping himself into a new Saddam Hussein.
He is facing massive problems. His country is increasingly alienating itself from the European tourists and markets that keeps its economy afloat. He has rebellious Kurds along and within his borders. He has an Armenian state that hates him along the neighboring border. Greece would love to see him collapse. He has civil war along another border in Syria. Putin would love to retake Constantinople for Orthodox Christendom. There is only so much that Saudi coffers, already draining through low oil prices, can do to prop him up. He is accelerating the purge of state officials and the army, further weakening the effectiveness of the government and the army. I wonder how long Israel will maintain its ties of convenience?
Turkey was propped up for decades as a NATO ally by the west. The Obama/Soros plan of fostering good muslims is being exposed for dangerous wishful thinking.
Maybe the red Chinese will step in, propping him up, helping insure oil flows and distracting from their power grabs in the South China Sea. Iran just does not have the resources to give him the help he needs.
Any way you look at it — it ain’t good.
This is Obama’s Bay of Pigs, his Gulf of Tonkin, his Waterloo. . .
The Bay of Pigs, Gulf of Tonkin, and Waterloo all involved military action that led to revolting developments. With Obama, it is inaction.
Well, just because Erdogan wants to hang him, it doesn’t make him our friend.
He is running his immigration racket, and I don’t know what all…
I expect he is just another breed of viper.
So, I really can’t see a reason to protect him.
Send him home.