No obstacle in handing Gülen over, Turkey tells US

ANKARA

Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül has said there was no obstacle for the extradition of Fethullah Gülen from the United States.

“As the state of law, we are hoping for this terror group head to be extradited. In Turkey, death penalty does not exist. We are saying [to U.S. officials] there is no obstacle for the extradition not to take place,” Gül said on Dec. 30 during a TV program broadcasted on CNN Türk.

“Our demand [for Gülen’s extradition] is not officially rejected. As we find new evidence, we send it to America. Administrative and criminal investigations are ongoing. They are conducting investigation too,” Gül said.

Gül also said that a U.S. delegation consisting of prosecutors will come to Turkey next month. “There is a contact within the framework of judicial cooperation,” he said.

Additionally, the minister stressed that 4,000 prosecutors were dismissed from their duties due to having links with the illegal FETÖ.

The Turkish government has so far submitted several requests to the U.S. concerning the extradition of Gülen, but Washington has refused to heed the calls, arguing that it has not yet received sufficient evidence required by U.S. courts to hand over the cleric, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S. since 1999.

In the G-20 summit held in Argentina, U.S. President Donald Trump had told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that his administration was working on the extradition of Gülen.