WASHINGTON: Secretary of State John Kerry is calling on Turkey to provide hard evidence that a US-based cleric was behind a foiled coup attempt last weekend if it wants him extradited.
Kerry said Wednesday that he made clear in several phone calls with Turkey’s foreign minister that mere allegations of wrongdoing against Fethullah Gulen would not meet US extradition requirements.
“With respect to Mr. Gulen, we have consistently said to our friends in Turkey and allies in Turkey that we need evidence,” Kerry told reporters at the State Department. “We have a very strict set of requirements that have to be met for an extradition to take place.”
Speaking to Al-Jazeera channel, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “If the US does not extradite Gulen, it would be a big mistake. We are giving them all the evidence.” He said he believed some foreign countries might have been involved in last weekend’s failed coup.
Kerry said he had told Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavosoglu in several phone calls: “Please don’t send us allegations, send us evidence. We need to have evidence which we can then make a judgment about.”
Turkey’s higher education council has banned academics from work trips abroad and urged those overseas to quickly return home, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
The council asked university rectors to “urgently examine the situation of all academic and administrative personnel linked with FETO” — or the “Fethullah Terrorist Organization,” as it labels Gulen’s supporters — and report back by Aug. 5. More than 15,000 Turkish state education employees have been suspended after last week’s attempted coup. Also, the authorities have scrapped all TV and radio station licenses linked to Gulen.
The broadcasting watchdog said it had “canceled all broadcasting rights and licenses for media that had links to FETO/PDY.”
Turkey to US: Protecting Gulen will be a blunder
Turkey to US: Protecting Gulen will be a blunder
German parliament speaker visits Gaza
- Germany has been one of Israel’s staunchest supporters as the European power seeks to atone for the legacy of the Holocaust
BERLIN: The speaker of Germany’s lower house of parliament briefly visited the Israeli-controlled part of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, the body told AFP.
Julia Kloeckner spent “about an hour in the part of Gaza controlled by Israeli army forces,” parliament said, becoming the first German official to visit the territory since Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023 that sparked the devastating war.
Since the start of the conflict, Israel has drastically restricted access to the densely populated coastal strip.
In a statement shared by her office, Kloeckner said it was essential for politicians to have access to “reliable assessments of the situation” in Gaza.
“I expressly welcome the fact that Israel has now, for the first time, granted me, a parliamentary observer, access to the Gaza Strip,” she said.
However, she was only able to gain a “limited insight” into the situation on the ground during her trip, she said.
Kloeckner appealed to Israel to “continue on this path of openness” and emphasized that the so-called yellow line, which designates Israeli military zones inside the Gaza Strip, must “not become a permanent barrier.”
The German foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from AFP.
Germany has been one of Israel’s staunchest supporters as the European power seeks to atone for the legacy of the Holocaust.
But in recent months, Chancellor Friedrich Merz has occasionally delivered sharp critiques of Israeli policy as German public opinion turns against Israel’s actions in Gaza.
In August, Germany imposed a partial arms embargo on Israel, which was lifted in November after the announcement of what has proved to be a fragile ceasefire for Gaza.
Merz visited Israel in December and reaffirmed Germany’s support.
But in a sign of lingering tension, Germany’s foreign ministry on Wednesday criticized Israeli plans to tighten control over the occupied West Bank as a step toward “de facto annexation.”
