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US Claims Evidence Provided by Ankara for Gulen Extradition Insufficient - Turkish Envoy

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Turkey recently gave the US what it claims is additional evidence to support their demand to extradite Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara regards as the mastermind behind a failed 2016 coup, but Washington considers the proofs to be insufficient, Turkish Ambassador to the United States Serdar Kilic said on Monday.
Sputnik

"We have provided very recently additional evidence but unfortunately, apparently, it does not work with the US authorities", Kilic said. "They are still working on it, they are still asking for additional information, claiming that the information we have provided is not sufficient".

Turkish authorities have repeatedly sent extradition demands to Washington, and the US has consistently denied Ankara's requests to hand over Gulen. Asked about the latest developments in the Gulen case, Kilic said, "There is no development. This is the problem, no update".

"So, we are waiting for his extradition to Turkey and there has been no development in that regard. We are still waiting", the ambassador said.

On Monday, Ankara noted the third anniversary of the attempted coup, in which more than 300 people were killed and another 2,000 injured.

The news comes as Turkey marks the third anniversary of the attempt by a rogue military group to depose President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Ankara has blamed the uprising on cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in the US.

Following the attempted coup in mid-2016, Ankara shuttered hundreds of media and educational outlets and detained tens of thousands of journalists, diplomats, judges, members of the military and human rights activists, accusing them of links to Gulen and having a role in the attempt to overthrow the government. The cleric, living in self-imposed exile in the United States, has denied any involvement.

 

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