Erdogan Formally Requests Gulen Extradition From US, As Power At Incirlik Airbase Restored

One week after the Turkish coup, U.S. officials reported that electric power has been finally restored to the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey.

The base had been operating on a backup generator since July 16, when power was shut off at all military bases in Turkey following a failed military coup. Turkish authorities have alleged that planes involved in the coup attempt were refueled by Turkish planes housed at the base.

The U.S. military’s European Command said Friday there is a steady flow of hot food, water, and fuel to support U.S. service members and civilians in Turkey. EUCOM said it is working with the Turkish military to make sure the base is prepared to carry out its missions. It is used by U.S.-led coalition jets fighting the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

That’s the quid, to what we expected last week would be a bargaining chip in Turkey’s negotiation with the US on extraditing the cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has been blamed for masterminding the coup, and who lives in the US. 

Some have speculated that the airbase may be held “hostage” by Ankara as a bargaining chip ahead of demands for the extradition of Erdogan’s arch enemy, Fethullah Gulen, currently a resident of the state of Pennsylvania.

The base is no longer hostage, if only for the time being.

What is the quo? We found out moments ago, when Turkey’s ablassador to the US, Kilic, formally requested the extradition of Gulen:

We have formally submitted the necessary documents” for extradition of Fethullah Gulen, Ambassador Serdar Kilic told reporters in Washington.

WaPo adds that Turkey’s top diplomat urged the United States on Friday to quickly hand over a self-exiled cleric whom Turkish leaders have linked to last week’s coup attempt — an issue that risks causing serious tension between the two allies. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told the state-run broadcaster TRT that Turkey was ready to take part in a commission proposed by Washington to discuss the extradition of Fethullah Gulen. But Cavusoglu insisted there was no need for it to take a long time. “If you want to draw out the Gulen extradition issue, it can take years, but if you are decisive, it can be completed in a short period,” he said, according to the Reuters news agency.

And now the ball is in Obama’s court: does he yield to a person who has clearly made a mockery of the democratic process and hand over a frail 77-year-old man who hardly was the evil mastermind that managed to somehow plan and coordinate with the 60,000+ people detained, arrested or charged in Turkey. Or does he deny, and risk Erdogan’s ira, which could potentially spillover by forcing Turkey to gravitate closer to Moscow’s sphere of influence and maybe even open the European gates for some 2 million Syrian refugees currently held inside Turkey’s borders.

We doubt Obama will rush to resolve this issue and will most likely punt it to Hillary Clinton, who takes over in just 4 months. As America knows, the Secretary of State has an admirable record of resolving foreign diplomatic crises.

via http://ift.tt/2aiGGcN Tyler Durden

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.