While the coup in Turkey has been blocked, there is still a residual concern about the future of the Erdogan administration and the ripple effect of thousands of arrests makes for a divided nation.
Add to that the pressure from well placed Gulen elements and their tangible financial resources and it is understandable that the Turkish president wants the US to extradite Fethullah Gulen from his little hamlet in Pennyslvania.
A lesser likely terrorist than the man with several million followers would be hard to find going by his current lifestyle. Frail, over 75, almost isolated in Saylorsburg, a small US village, Gulen’s command over his much-heralded “empire” seems like a work of fiction. He is more like a figure from a Thomas Hardy rural novel. Could he be so foxy as to have actually masterminded a coup attempt with the air force chief from here?
In a hi-tech world stranger things can happen but it is a long walk from demanding his extradition and getting it.
For President Obama a hot spot he does not need at the end of his term. This is the hot potato he is going to hand over to his successor who might well be Donald Trump.
Obama does not want that. But he cannot just hand over Gulen that easily... or risk an outright “no” to the request and thereby create stress in a very strategic ally. The phone conversation between him and Erdogan is clearly designed to find a mid way point of reason where both countries can reach a compromise. Most important for Erdogan is US help in shoring up his government and the US in ensuring a stable Turkey.
The trick lies in finding a face saving device for the Turkish president who has made the call for the US based “terrorist” very public and dramatically specific without any wriggle room.
At this point with emotions running high, Obama can offer very little except to take Gulen out of his charming bucolic life and put him into protective custody not just to please Erdogan but also to keep the residents of the small town safe from any misguided action against Gulen.
Obama will have to follow the rules of engagement which are stringent when it comes to extradition and have more legal loopholes in them than a slice of Swiss cheese. Although the Turkish government will strengthen its stance on the fact that they have never refused a US request in the past Obama would rather hope to placate Eerdogan with an offset deal of sorts. Extradition would be laborious. How does one sweeten the deal? Maybe weaponry, an upscaling in the US-Turkish trade arrangements or greater support for his regime in undeclared assistance.
Will these concessions save face is the concern and at present it looks as if Erdogan’s rage over the coup is placing him in a very uncompromising corner and one which he may find difficult to get out of if he keeps putting Washington to the sword.
Add to that the pressure from well placed Gulen elements and their tangible financial resources and it is understandable that the Turkish president wants the US to extradite Fethullah Gulen from his little hamlet in Pennyslvania.
A lesser likely terrorist than the man with several million followers would be hard to find going by his current lifestyle. Frail, over 75, almost isolated in Saylorsburg, a small US village, Gulen’s command over his much-heralded “empire” seems like a work of fiction. He is more like a figure from a Thomas Hardy rural novel. Could he be so foxy as to have actually masterminded a coup attempt with the air force chief from here?
In a hi-tech world stranger things can happen but it is a long walk from demanding his extradition and getting it.
For President Obama a hot spot he does not need at the end of his term. This is the hot potato he is going to hand over to his successor who might well be Donald Trump.
Obama does not want that. But he cannot just hand over Gulen that easily... or risk an outright “no” to the request and thereby create stress in a very strategic ally. The phone conversation between him and Erdogan is clearly designed to find a mid way point of reason where both countries can reach a compromise. Most important for Erdogan is US help in shoring up his government and the US in ensuring a stable Turkey.
The trick lies in finding a face saving device for the Turkish president who has made the call for the US based “terrorist” very public and dramatically specific without any wriggle room.
At this point with emotions running high, Obama can offer very little except to take Gulen out of his charming bucolic life and put him into protective custody not just to please Erdogan but also to keep the residents of the small town safe from any misguided action against Gulen.
Obama will have to follow the rules of engagement which are stringent when it comes to extradition and have more legal loopholes in them than a slice of Swiss cheese. Although the Turkish government will strengthen its stance on the fact that they have never refused a US request in the past Obama would rather hope to placate Eerdogan with an offset deal of sorts. Extradition would be laborious. How does one sweeten the deal? Maybe weaponry, an upscaling in the US-Turkish trade arrangements or greater support for his regime in undeclared assistance.
Will these concessions save face is the concern and at present it looks as if Erdogan’s rage over the coup is placing him in a very uncompromising corner and one which he may find difficult to get out of if he keeps putting Washington to the sword.
