U.S. President Donald Trump
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration ordered federal law enforcement agencies to examine legal methods of getting Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) leader Fetullah Gülen out of the U.S. in an attempt to convince Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to ease pressure on Saudi Arabia following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, NBC News reported citing four sources.
Khashoggi, a royal insider turned critic of Saudi policy and the crown prince’s reforms, was killed in the country’s Istanbul consulate on Oct. 2, after a struggle.
The move suggests Trump could be seeking ways to appease Erdoğan over the Khashoggi murder without harming his alliance with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Turkey has ruled out any deal with the United States to scale down its investigation into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi if the U.S. expels Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) leader Fetullah GülenNBC News reported on Thursday that the Trump administration was exploring ways to remove cleric Fethullah Gülen and persuade President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to ease pressure on Saudi Arabia over the killing. The White House said the story was "not accurate".A senior Turkish official said the issues of Gülen's extradition, which Turkey has long sought, and the investigation into who was behind Khashoggi's killing at Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consulate last month, were separate issues."At no point did Turkey offer to hold back on the Khashoggi investigation in return for Fethullah Gülen's extradition," the official said. "We have no intention to intervene in the Khashoggi investigation in return for any political or legal favour."Trump administration seeks ways to kick FETÖ leader Gülen out of USErdoğan has said the order for Khashoggi's killing came from the highest levels of the Saudi leadership. Washington on Thursday announced sanctions over the killings, targeting 17 Saudi officials but not the Riyadh government - an important U.S. security and economic ally.Erdoğan has long demanded that Washington extradite Gülen, orchestrated Turkey's July 15 coup attempt and is the mastermind behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.Since the failed coup, operations have been ongoing in the military, police and judiciary as well as in state institutions across the country to arrest suspects with alleged links to FETÖ.U.S. officials have said the courts need sufficient evidence to extradite the cleric.FETÖ-linked daily’s ex-columnist gets prison sentenceGermany not meeting Turkey's demands on FETÖ: FM
Turkey says will not link fate of FETÖ leader Gülen to Khashoggi
The White House asked for details about Gülen’s residency status. Officials initially “pushed back on the White House requests, but once they realized it was serious they were furious.”
A total of 249 people were martyred and nearly 2,200 injured in the July 15 failed coup which was perpetrated by FETÖ, led by ringleader Fetullah Gülen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania.
“One option that Turkish and Trump administration officials recently discussed is forcing Gülen to relocate to South Africa rather than sending him directly to Turkey if extradition is not possible, said the U.S. officials and people briefed on the discussions. But the U.S. does not have any legal justification to send Gülen to South Africa, they said, so that wouldn't be a viable option unless he went willingly,” NBC News reported.
A Turkish court on Wednesday sentenced to prison a former columnist of a daily linked to FETÖ -- the group behind the 2016 defeated coup.The 2nd High Criminal Court in Uşak, a western Anatolian province, handed down a jail term of 19-and-a-half years on charges of founding and managing an armed terrorist group. Ali Ünal, a former columnist for Zaman newspaper which has been shut down, denied accusations saying he had written over 90 books and worked for newspapers for 26 years, including 20 years for daily Zaman. FETÖ and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gülen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.Ankara also accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.Germany not meeting Turkey's demands on FETÖ: FM
FETÖ-linked daily’s ex-columnist gets prison sentence
Erdoğan and other Turkish officials reiterated to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who visited Turkey on Oct. 17, that they sought the extradition of Gülen. Pompeo allegedly queried whether there was “any new evidence” of Gülen links to the 2016 failed coup.
Erdoğan told Pompeo that Gülen has “terrorist ties,” a senior U.S. official briefed on the meeting said.
Following the coup, Turkey delivered “boxes of materials to the U.S.” that Ankara says proves Gülen was the mastermind. However, the FBI and U.S. Justice Department state they “didn't find evidence that met the standard for extradition, which requires U.S. prosecutors to determine that someone committed crimes abroad that would also be illegal in the U.S.”
Gülen pursued a long-running campaign to overthrow the Turkish government through the infiltration of state institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.
Turkey has sent dozens of countries extradition files on over 450 suspected members of the terrorist group behind the 2016 defeated coup, said Turkey’s foreign minister on Wednesday."We continue to pursue a resolute fight with FETÖ both at home and abroad,” Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told parliament’s Planning and Budget Commission, referring to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization or FETÖ.“We are pursuing FETÖ terrorists wherever they are in the world. We will bring the FETÖ members to Turkish justice to hold them accountable."He added: "We prepared files on 452 FETÖ-linked figures as part of investigations of senior members of the terror group's overseas presence. We sent files to 83 countries where these figures are living."74 FETÖ-linked suspects arrested across TurkeyÇavuşoğlu said that with the cooperation of 21 countries, a total of 104 FETÖ members have been extradited to Turkey to date.On Turkey's successful cross-border counter-terrorism operations, Çavuşoğlu said that over 260,000 refugees had returned to areas of Syria cleared of terrorists during Turkey’s operations.Turkish troops -- backed by the FSA -- liberated large swathes of northwestern Syria from terrorist groups during Operation Euphrates Shield in 2016-2017, while Operation Olive Branch liberated Afrin, Syria from YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists in early 2018.Turkey has also succeeded in closing FETÖ-linked schools abroad, he said.Turkey running ex-FETÖ-linked schools in Afghanistan"FETÖ schools and language schools have been closed in 21 countries," said Çavuşoğlu, adding that Turkey's Maarif Foundation has assumed administration of the schools in 16 countries.FETÖ and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.Ankara also accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the security forces, judiciary, and schools.FETÖ also has a considerable presence outside Turkey, including private educational institutions that serve as a revenue stream for the terrorist group.FETÖ poses risk to Pakistan: Turkish parliament speakerÇavuşoğlu said Turkey is trying to minimize the effect of sanctions imposed on Iran."[For this] We are in close coordination notably with both the U.S. and EU, and even with Asian countries," he said.The U.S. administration announced Friday, Nov. 2 that it would temporarily allow eight importers to continue trading oil with Iran.Çavuşoğlu also hailed Turkey-Russia relations, saying: "There is a strong will and a close dialogue between our leaders. We can find a way out even in hard times."He also spoke about Turkey’s cooperation with the Central Asian countries. "Our relations with Uzbekistan has revived with the new administration [in the country]. Our relations with Turkmenistan have also strengthened," he added.Turkey making efforts to get U.S. Congress to remove bills against AnkaraTurkey is making efforts to get the U.S. Congress to drop bills targeting Ankara, according to the text of Çavuşoğlu on Wednesday.The U.S. Senate has demanded a block on sales of F-35 jets to Turkey unless U.S. President Donald Trump certifies that Turkey is not threatening NATO, purchasing defence equipment from Russia or detaining U.S. citizens.Çavuşoğlu also said in the text of his speech, which he is delivering to a parliamentary commission on Wednesday, that Turkey is working to keep economic ties with the United States from being impacted by political issues.
Germany not meeting Turkey's demands on FETÖ: FM