Spotlight: Turkey, U.S. walk tightrope over extradition of cleric Gulen

As a faction of the Turkish armed forces involved in the coup attempt was deemed as loyal to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, Turkey firmly demands extradition of the cleric, which may sour bilateral ties, local experts said Monday.

Turkey officially designated Gulen's religious movement as a terrorist group and has repeatedly asked his extradition from the U.S., but the latter says solid evidence is needed to back any extradition request for his alleged leadership of a terrorist organization.

Ankara may question its friendship with Washington if the U.S. fails to meet Turkey's demand, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Monday in a press conference after the first cabinet meeting following a failed coup attempt.

"We will be disappointed, even questioning our friendship may be brought to the agenda if our friends still insist for evidence while members of the organization that tried to destroy will of this elected government and a person who instructs it," Yildirim stated.

The prime minister also said there was no better evidence than the July 15 coup attempt for the extradition of Gulen.

The cleric, however, rejected all accusations that he was behind the coup attempt.

"I condemn, in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey," he said in a written statement on Saturday.

Gulen has lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S. since 1999 when he fled Turkey amidst accusations of extremist Islamist activities.

Gulen, who leads from exile a movement called Hizmet, was once an ally of Turkish President Erdogan. But the alliance between the movement and Erdogan split after a corruption investigation in 2013 on the then-prime minister Erdogan and those under him.

Erdogan accuses Gulen of forming and heading a terrorist organization -- publicly dubbed as the "parallel structure" -- with the U.S.-based Muslim cleric's alleged sympathizers working in state institutions such as police and judiciary as insiders.

A dossier on Gulen case would be updated with the coup attempt and will be dispatched to Washington for his extradition, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Sunday.

Tolga Tanis, a local daily Hurriyet columnist, believes that a crisis between Ankara and Washington will erupt over Gulen case after the coup attempt.

"From now on, Gulen issue would be the most important topic of the Turkish-American relations," Tanis said, adding that the issue would dominate discussions between officials of the two countries.

The U.S. officials announced Gulen's legal position as Lawful Permenant Resident, he said.

The issue may lead to a crisis in short term, but cooperation between two allies will be restored in mid and long term, Mehmet Yegin, Director of Center for American Studies of International Strategic Research Organization told Xinhua.

Yegin recalled claims by Turkish officials that the U.S. is behind the coup attempt, but said this allegation is not strong yet.

"The alliance between Turkey and the U.S. has faced many up and downs," he said, adding that both countries would in a way eliminate this problem.

"The U.S. administration has already expressed willingness to act whenever the Turkish government presented evidence. I don't think this issue would negatively influence other areas of cooperation between Turkey and the U.S.." Yegin said referring to ongoing efforts against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq.

Turkish Labor Minister Suleyman Soylu recently accused Washington of being behind the coup attempt.

"America is behind the coup. Some magazines published there were involved [in staging the coup] for the last couple of months," Soylu told private broadcaster Haberturk on Sunday, without specifying what publications they were.

The U.S. officials are prepared to work and discuss with their Turkish counterparts about the extradition of Gulen, the U.S. Ambassador to Ankara John Bass has said in a written statement on Monday, denying claims that Washington played a role in staging the coup attempt on July 15. Endit