Al Arabiya: Gulen confident US will not extradite him

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen
Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen


Date posted: August 20, 2016

New York. In an exclusive interview with Al Arabiya News Channel, Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen said he was confident that the United States will not extradite him, even as Turkey formally submitted its request earlier in the week.

Gulen, a cleric in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, has been blamed for the failed coup attempt against his rival and the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“The United States has a reputation in the world as a country that upholds the rule of law. So I trust they will follow the proper procedures,” Gulen told Al Arabiya’s New York Bureau Chief Talal al-Haj.

On August 16, Turkey officially requested the US for Gulen’s extradition. There have also been allegations of Turkish parliamentarians visiting the United States and meeting with the Department of Justice officials, bringing with them 85 boxes of evidence about Gulen’s involvement in the failed coup.

Asked whether the US might cave into pressure, the cleric said there was a possibility. “Of course, it is possible for the US authorities to be deceived as well. Technically there is a possibility although I don’t consider that a significant likelihood,” he said.

Nathaniel Tek, the US State Department’s regional spokesman, had told Al Arabiya English that strong and credible evidence would be required to prove the cleric’s wrongdoing.

“There needs to be a set of specific documentation, with evidence that goes directly to our Department of Justice,” Tek told Al Arabiya English. “At that point, what happens is that we review the request, in accordance with US federal law and international law, and then we’ll make a decision at that point.”


This news was first published by Al Arabiya itself with the title “Exclusive: Gulen confident US will not extradite him.” However, it was shortly after removed from the website due to, perhaps, pressure from Turkish gov’t.

Source: Focus Information Agency , August 219, 2016


Related News

Written Evidence to UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on Hizmet

The Alliance for Shared Values of the US & The Dialogue Platform of the UK have prepared a report on “UK’s relations with Turkey” that focuses on the Hizmet Movement. The report may be downloaded, disseminated for free and even printed. Representatives from these organizations were personally invited to submit written evidence by the Committee to explain Hizmet and provide Hizmet’s response to the AKP government’s allegations against Fethullah Gülen and the Hizmet movement.

Arab world should embrace the Gülen model

According to Algerian author, Professor Mohammed Babaammi if the Arab world embraces the Gülen model, it will be able to find a cure the problems it has had for centuries. “In fact I believe that the Arab world would embrace such model as it is coming from people who share the same belief and geography with Arabs,” he said.

Catholics, Hizmet bring faiths closer in the US

In the view of doomsday reports from the US, it does not come as a surprise how ordinary Americans from all faiths, Christianity, Judaism and Islam, have worked meticulously to bridge the gap and sheer absence of dialogue between these three Abrahamic religions especially in the context of post 9/11 world. SAURABH KUMAR SHAHI | […]

Amnesty International researcher criticizes witch-hunt in Turkey

Amnesty International’s Turkey researcher has leveled sharp criticism against Turkey over ongoing purges that have followed a failed coup attempt in July and said arrests and firings over alleged links to the Gülen movement have now turned into a wide-ranging witch-hunt. He said arrest and detentions, which are based on no evidence, are bound to inflict damage to the notions of rule of law and freedom of expression.

‘Mr. Gülen is to me simultaneously both incredibly modest and a visionary’

I’m inspired by the Hizmet Movement. I didn’t realize that until I came in contact with the Movement, but all of my life, education and service and dialog have been transformative to me. … This is the work that all of our hearts should be doing. So it remains a source of inspiration for me in my work.

Tonyaa Weathersbee: Various forms of Islam revealed in Turkey

Two years ago, I traveled to Turkey with the Istanbul Cultural Center. Now Atlantic Institute, it tries to expose Americans to Turkish culture.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Joint mosque-cemevi project will contribute to peace in Turkey

Erdogan on a mission to seek allies more than trading partners

A private Turkish university opens in northern Iraq

Turkey’s Reichstag Fire

Rep. Andy Fleischmann named ” Statesman of the year” by Peace Advocacy Group

Refugee helps refugees

Islamic Renaissance in the Contemporary World

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News