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Turkey's Erdogan Suggests Swap: Jailed U.S. Pastor For Turkish Cleric
Erdogan is pulling a Tehran/North Korea here. Charge an American with a crime, any serious crime will do, and then suggest swapping that imprisoned American for a Turk living in the US that Ankara wants to imprison/hang. The Erdogan regime has wanted to do away with Gulen for a long time.
Why is Erdogan's Turkey still in NATO and why is Trump friendly with this sleazy dictator? The last time here his security people beat-up and injured American protesters right in broad daylight in Washington.
By Bill Chappell
September 29, 2017
It's been nearly a year since Turkey detained American pastor Andrew Brunson — and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says if the U.S. wants Brunson freed, it should extradite an elderly Turkish cleric living in the U.S., whom Erdogan accuses of organizing last year's failed coup attempt. "Erdogan has voiced frustration with American demands for more evidence pointing to Gulen's involvement in the coup effort," NPR's Peter Kenyon reports from Istanbul. Peter relays Erdogan's words in a speech at a police academy Thursday: "You have a pastor too," Erdogan said, adding, "You give us that one and we'll work with our judiciary and give back yours." Brunson, 48, is an evangelical Presbyterian from North Carolina who has lived in Turkey for more than two decades. He was arrested last October during the crackdown that followed a military faction's attempt to overthrow Erdogan in July. Since then, he's been accused of being part of an armed terrorist group; one month ago, he was charged with espionage and attempting to overthrow the government.
The cleric Turkey wants to get its hands on is Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic scholar in his late 70s who lives in a compound in Saylorsburg, Pa., in the Pocono Mountains. "Gulen, who is said to have millions of supporters in Turkey, has steadfastly denied any responsibility for the coup," NPR reported in July of 2017, "but Turkey is demanding his extradition from the U.S., where he has lived since the late 1990s." When asked about Turkey's attempt to extradite him, Gulen said, "I think the United States is mindful of its reputation for its democracy and rule of law, and if they are willing to risk that reputation by extraditing me based on the request and claims made by Turkey, I would never say no. I would go willingly."
Erdogan is pulling a Tehran/North Korea here. Charge an American with a crime, any serious crime will do, and then suggest swapping that imprisoned American for a Turk living in the US that Ankara wants to imprison/hang. The Erdogan regime has wanted to do away with Gulen for a long time.
Why is Erdogan's Turkey still in NATO and why is Trump friendly with this sleazy dictator? The last time here his security people beat-up and injured American protesters right in broad daylight in Washington.