Esra Kaymak
27 October 2016•Update: 27 October 2016
WASHINGTON
Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag met with U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Wednesday to discuss the extradition of Fetullah Gulen, the mastermind of a recent abortive coup in Turkey.
The meeting at the Justice Department was closed to the media.
Speaking to reporters in Ankara before leaving for the U.S. on Tuesday to push Turkey's official request for Gulen’s extradition and provisional arrest, Bozdag said his country has already sent all the necessary evidence in a file to the U.S..
Asked if Turkey has a plan if the meetings failed to bear fruit, Bozdag stressed that not extraditing or dragging out the process would hurt ties between Washington and Ankara.
Turkey’s documents includes evidence Gulen’s network established a quasi-state within the Turkish state in an attempt to topple the government and ultimately tried to take over the state via a bloody coup.
Turkish authorities also issued an official request for Gulen’s extradition under a 1979 treaty between Turkey and the U.S.
During his four-day visit, Bozdag will attend a panel discussion on the July 15 coup attempt, organized by the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) and inaugurate Anadolu Agency's photo exhibit in Washington on "The Rise of the National Will".
At least 241 people were martyred and nearly 2,200 injured in the failed coup, which Turkey said was organized by followers of Gulen, the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) leader who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania.
Gulen has led a long-running campaign to overthrow the Turkish government through the infiltration of state institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.
