CIA has more evidence on Gülen’s coup involvement than Turkey: Turkish justice minister

ANKARA

Turkey's justice minister has said the American spy agency CIA has more evidence than Turkey about the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fetullah Gülen's involvement in the July 15 deadly coup attempt.

“I’m sure that the evidence CIA has on Fethullah Gülen’s coup involvement is more than what Turkey has,” Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said during his address to members of the judiciary at an event in Ankara, adding that “when CIA denies having any knowledge on Gülen being behind the coup,  it ridicules the minds of the people in Turkey and the world.” 

“CIA knows Gülen’s heartbeat, how often he breathes [and] who enters and leaves [his Pennsylvania mansion],”  he added, as he commented on the extradition request of Turkey.

Gülen’s extradition request could be adjudicated under a 1979 treaty between the U.S. and Turkey, one of more than 100 the U.S. has signed with other countries, which would require the U.S. to arrest and detain Gülen for up to 60 days to give Turkey time to prepare a formal extradition request and to keep him in custody until a decision is handed down in his extradition case.