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Turkey's president says the coup was organized by the followers of Fethullah Gülen, a cleric living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania.
Video provided by Newsy Newslook
A handout file picture made available on 27 December 2013 by fgulen.com shows Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic opinion leader and founder of the Gulen movement. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan allegedly accused Gulen to be behind the attempted coup while making an address to his supporters upon his arrival at Istanbul Ataturk airport in the early hours of 16 July 2016. According to news reports Erdogan denounced the thwarted coup as an 'act of treason' and affirmed his government remains in charge.(Photo: FGULEN.COM / HANDOUT, EPA)
Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday that the Obama administration would consider<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a Turkish extradition request for 75-year-old Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania and is blamed by Turkey's government for orchestrating Friday night's attempted coup.
But Kerry said Turkey's government would first have to prove Gulen's role in the failed effort by elements of the country's military to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The attempted coup resulted in 265<span style="color: Red;">*</span>deaths and rocked a key U.S. NATO ally.
"Obviously we would invite the government of <span style="color: Red;">*</span>Turkey,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>as we always do, to present us with legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny," Kerry said. "I'm confident there will be some discussion about that."
In a televised speech Saturday night, Erdogan<span style="color: Red;">*</span>called on the U.S. to extradite Gulen.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Erdogan said Turkey had never turned down<span style="color: Red;">*</span>any extradition request for “terrorists” by the U.S.
“I say if we are strategic partners then you should bring about our request,” he said.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters Saturday that Gulen was the "leader of a terrorist organization" and that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>any country "standing by this person will not be a friend of Turkey." He said more than 2,800 military members involved in the coup had been arrested.
A Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations, told the Associated Press that Turkey was compiling evidence of Gulen's involvement.
From his estate in the Poconos outside the village of Saylorsburg, Pa., Gulen —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>who is at the helm<span style="color: Red;">*</span>of a broad<span style="color: Red;">*</span>religious network that includes hundreds of schools across the world that promote<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a moderate<span style="color: Red;">*</span>version of Islam —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>denied any complicity in the takeover<span style="color: Red;">*</span>attempt.
“I don’t believe that the world believes the accusations made by President Erdogan,” Gulen said in an interview at his residence on Saturday with a small group of journalists. “There is a possibility that it could be a staged coup and it could be meant for further accusations (against the Gulenists).”
He said there could be many motives behind the attempted coup — whether sympathizers of himself or the opposition party — but he says he wouldn’t know.
Gulen stressed that he<span style="color: Red;">*</span>left Turkey more than 15 years ago and no longer follows developments there and doesn’t even know “who my followers are.”
One day earlier, he<span style="color: Red;">*</span>issued a statement<span style="color: Red;">*</span>condemning, "in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey."
He said that "government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not<span style="color: Red;">*</span>force."
A<span style="color: Red;">*</span>lawyer for the Turkish government, Robert Amsterdam, said Friday that Turkish intelligence sources have direct proof of involvement by Gulen in the coup attempt. Erdogan<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said after arriving in Istanbul as his forces were regaining control of the country early Saturday that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"Turkey cannot be governed from Pennsylvania."
USA TODAY
Why the attempted coup in Turkey matters to the U.S.
Kerry, who<span style="color: Red;">*</span>spoke about Gulen during a visit to Luxembourg,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said that no extradition request had been received. The state-run Anadolu news agency in Turkey reported Wednesday, two days before the attempted coup, that prosecutors in Ankara were preparing to seek Gulen's extradition from the U.S., accusing him of trying to infiltrate and overthrow<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the government. Anadolu reported that the extradition file was to be sent to Turkey's Justice Ministry on Thursday.
Gulen and Erdogan have been twin centers of power in Turkey for years, at one time close allies who eventually grew estranged as the cleric became critical of Erdogan's moves to consolidate power. In an op-ed written for The<span style="color: Red;">*</span>New York Times last year, Gulen said the Erdogan administration had "squandered" an opportunity to transform Turkey into "a functioning democracy that upholds universal human rights, gender equality, the rule of law and the rights of Kurdish and non-Muslim citizens."
Erdogan, who is trying to transform his Muslim-populated country from a traditional secular nation to one that observes Islamic customs more<span style="color: Red;">*</span>faithfully, has cracked down on political dissent and has sought constitutional changes to make his largely ceremonial office far more powerful.
From his 25-acre estate outside Saylorsburg, Pa., Gulen runs a network known as Hizmet, an organization he describes as a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"civil society movement" that operates<span style="color: Red;">*</span>1,000<span style="color: Red;">*</span>secular schools around the world, as well as tutoring centers, colleges, hospitals and relief organizations in 150 countries. His followers have been influential in starting<span style="color: Red;">*</span>charter schools in the United States.
His compound in Pennsylvania —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>where he maintains residency with a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>green card<span style="color: Red;">*</span>—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>is known as the Golden Generation Worship & Retreat Center. A spokesman for the center told the Financial Times that Gulen' s health is very fragile.
About 10% of Turkey's citizens<span style="color: Red;">*</span>are Hizmet supporters, according to The Guardian. Gulen's influence in Turkey had spread years ago to the nation's largest media organizations and deep within law enforcement. In a videotaped sermon in 1999, Gulen can be heard urging followers to "move within the arteries of the system, without anyone noticing your existence, until you reach all the power centers." Gulen has said the videotape was doctored.
When he began to clash with Erdogan's push for more authority<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in 2013, a power struggle ensued.
USA TODAY
Military coup in Turkey: What we know now
Erdogan's ruling AKP party accused Gulen, by then living in the United States in self-imposed exile, of engineering through his followers in law enforcement a crackdown on government ministers, including Erdogan's son,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Bilal, on allegations of corruption. In response, the government began a purge of Gulen followers from the army, courts and police.
"It is deeply disappointing to see what has become of Turkey in the last few years," Gulen wrote in 2015.
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