Turkey refuses to link Gulen's fate to Khashoggi case

Turkey has ruled out any deal with the United States to limit its investigation into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi if Washington expels cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara believes orchestrated the failed coup attempt two years ago.

Reuters quoted a senior Turkish official as saying that: “The issue of the deportation of Gulen, who Turkey has long demanded should be extradited, and the investigation of Khashoggi’s killing at the Saudi consulate are two separate issues”.

He added: “Turkey has not at any time banned the investigation into Khashoggi in return for the deportation of Fethullah Gulen. We have no intention of intervening in the Khashoggi investigation for any political or legal gain”.

The American NBC network said on Thursday that Trump’s administration was considering ways to get Gulen out of its territory and persuade the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to ease pressure on Riyadh in the Khashoggi case. The White House said that “the report is inaccurate”.

Read: Funeral prayer held for Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia