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Turkey sends second request for Gülen extradition from the US

August 3, 2016 at 10:16 am

Turkey’s justice minister has revealed that a second letter has been sent to the United States for the extradition of Fethullah Gülen. The Turkish cleric lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania and is accused by Ankara of instigating the attempted coup on 15 July.

“We answered their questions about why it is urgent [to arrest Gülen] in our first document,” explained Bekir Bozdağ to journalists in parliament. “We told the Americans that there are serious claims and statements about Gülen’s role in the coup attempt. As such, he needs to be arrested immediately.” The minister pointed out that the Turkish government has intelligence reports that Gülen could flee to a third country.

While stressing that the exile must have a fair trial, Bozdağ added that the government will discuss his extradition during an upcoming ministerial visit to Washington.