Turkish FM urges US to arrest Gulen

By Sinan Ozmus and Leyla Ataman Koyuncuoglu

ANTALYA, Turkey

Turkey’s foreign minister reiterated Tuesday Ankara’s official arrest request to the U.S. for Fetullah Gulen, who is accused of leading the foiled July 15 coup that martyred 240 people.

Mevlut Cavusoglu said once more that Gulen, the leader of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), should be extradited to Turkey to face trial.

He added that all those abroad who are linked to the failed coup will have to account for it in the end.

The minister also told reporters in the southern province of Antalya following a telephone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that further “coup-related documents and information” would be collected and sent to U.S. officials.

Cavusoglu was in Antalya to celebrate Eid al-Adha. He attended a ceremony and exchanged Eid greetings with Justice and Development (AK) Party officials and locals.

In his address, Cavusoglu stressed Turkey’s ongoing fight against the Daesh and PKK terrorist organizations, which he said aim to destroy the peaceful environment across the country.

Pointing to Monday’s bomb attack in the eastern city of Van, which left at least 53 people wounded, Cavusoglu asked: “Why did they attack during the Eid?” He said the PKK’s real targets were “Muslim and conservative Kurdish brothers”.

He added: “The PKK has nothing to do with the rights and culture of Kurds.”

Cavusoglu vowed that counterterrorism operations would continue until terrorists were completely wiped out inside and outside the country.

On the recent truce deal between the U.S. and Russia in Syria, which officially came into effect Monday evening, he said: “Turkey wants the cease-fire in Syria to be permanent.

“Apparently, the regime [in Syria] does not want to comply with the cease-fire. As soon as it was declared, the regime violated it last night. We hope that everybody does their share to ensure that the cease-fire is permanent this time.”

The truce deal aims to “reduce violence, ease suffering and resume movement towards a negotiated peace and a political transition in Syria.”

All attacks and airstrikes are to be halted and unobstructed access allowed to besieged areas, including the northern city of Aleppo.

Cavusoglu, noting that Syrian refugees in Turkey had begun to return to the liberated city of Jarabulus, said life would be normal again in the war-torn country as Daesh terrorists were removed from the region.