News / Turkey

Turkey says received 'positive signals' on Gulen extradition

Friday, 12 August 2016 12:01 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 12 August 2016 12:22 PM ]

A file photo of exiled Turkish Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen (AFP Photo)

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Friday Ankara has received "positive signals" from Washington over the demand for the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, the top US-based Turkish opposition figure.

The Turkish government accuses Gulen of being behind the failed coup of July 15 in Turkey. The Pennsylvania-based preacher denies the allegation.

"We have started to receive some positive signals on the calls we have made" for the extradition, the Turkish foreign minister said at a news conference in the capital Ankara.

Turkey, he added, is preparing documents relating to the case of extradition to send to the United States.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks at a press conference in Ankara on August 12, 2016. (AFP)

"Everyone in the world knows who is behind this coup attempt," Cavusoglu said.

Washington has so far refused to extradite Gulen, saying it needs evidence of his involvement in the abortive coup.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on August 10 that Ankara has sent “eighty-five boxes of files” to Washington to prove the allegation of Gulen’s involvement.

Earlier this month, Turkish authorities issued an arrest warrant for Gulen, who argues that the blame game could be a ploy by the ruling Justice and Development Party to cement its grip on power in Turkey.

“If a tenth of the accusations against me are established, I pledge to return to Turkey and serve the heaviest sentence,” Gulen stated in an opinion piece published in the French newspaper Le Monde.

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