Obama: U.S. to help Turkey ensure coup plotters brought to justice

[MowCowWhoHow III]

Source: Reuters

U.S. President Barack Obama told Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday that his administration would work with Turkey to help ensure that those responsible for an attempted coup are brought to justice.

Obama and Erdogan met on the sidelines of the G20 summit underway in eastern China's Hangzhou city.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-g20-china-usa-turkey-idUSKCN11A088?il=0

[Kokonoe]

1. Does that mean the guy in Pennsylvania.

The news is so obtuse nowadays.

[Igel]

2. I'll guess it's not the reporter but the source of the information.

He didn't say Gulen, in all likelihood. But is Gulen a coup plotter?

He didn't say "Just those currently in Turkey," either, but would have no qualms about providing evidence if he could make it avalable.

What's left is Rorschach. It's good diplomacy, many think, because it effaces points of disagreement. It's also bad, because in difficult situations it covers your butt but gives the other side the leeway to argue you're with them. It plays kick the can in a way that is perceived as misleading if not duplicitous. The technical term for this is "weaselly."

[karynnj]

5. Great explanation

For what it's worth, relating to Gulen, it is not inconsistent with previous statements. Earlier statements have spoken of going through the extradition process -- which starts with having real evidence that meets our standards. Since those statements, it seems that what was sent did not include anything proving involvement in the coup itself -- at least from reports.

My guess is that the US is waking a tightrope. On one hand, they need Turkey to not help ISIS and to give Syrian refugees temporary shelter to keep the numbers down in Europe. On the other hand, Turkey is moving away from any values we can agree with and its actions have been a mixed bag in the various crises in the area. In particular, its decades long fight against Kurds, who are our ally vs ISIS (when Turkey itself has been rather ambivalent) makes things more complex than the mess they would otherwise be. With ISIS there and Syria in chaos, we are forced to statements like this.

On the other hand, I would bet that there is no chance - at least before the election - that Gulen would be sent to Turkey - even if they found provable hand written (or taped audio) instructions from Gulen, which very likely would never exist even if he made the decision to start the coup. It would be gold for Trump - even though I would guess few have any idea who he is and that he is an Islamic scholar. (Suddenly, he might be the ONLY Muslim that Trump would fight to keep in the country!)

[cstanleytech]

3. The answer to that has not changed as it's still contingent largely on evidence emerging supporting

extraditing him to Turkey.

[jtuck004]

4. In Turkey, The Man To Blame For Most Everything Is A U.S.-Based Cleric

Since Turkey's government survived a violent coup attempt on July 15, it has pointed the finger at followers of an elderly, U.S.-based cleric. His name is Fethullah Gulen, and he denies any involvement. Turkey is demanding his extradition from the U.S., where he's lived in Pennsylvania since the late 1990s.

Gulen moved to America in 1999, amid worries that Turkey's secular and military elite was after him. Gulen became a close ally of Erdogan and his AKP party when the party came to power, but the two had a falling out several years later.

But it isn't just last month's attempted coup that the Gulen movement is being blamed for. Everything from suicide bomb attacks to past mine disasters are being laid at the cleric's doorstep.

Remember last November's Turkish shootdown of a Russian fighter jet? The two pilots involved were arrested last month for taking part in the coup effort. The Ankara mayor declared they were Gulen followers — and the shootdown was their fault, too.
...

http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/09/04/492105146/in-turkey-the-man-to-blame-for-most-everything-is-a-u-s-based-cleric?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=world

Putin would be proud...