US Department of Justice said that Washington will decide on the possible extradition of cleric Fethullah Gulen over the killing of Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov after reviewing any documents Ankara may provide and based on the facts and relevant US law.
“We will review any materials the Turkish government may provide in this regard, and will make any decisions about extradition on the basis of the facts and relevant US law,” spokesperson for the US Department of Justice Nicole Oxman told Sputnik.
On Monday, Turkish media reported that Ankara had ordered the arrest of Gulen along with seven members of his movement, referred to as the “Fethullah Terrorist Organization” (FETO) by Ankara, over Karlov’s assassination in 2016.
The Yeni Safak newspaper said that the FETO top figures, Serif Ali Tekalan and Emre Uslu Gulen, were also among those sought to be arrested.
On December 19, 2016, Karlov was shot by an off-duty Turkish police officer, Mevlut Mert Altintas, at the opening of an art gallery exhibition “Russia from Kaliningrad to Kamchatka through the eyes of a traveler” in Ankara. The attacker was killed at the scene by the police.
Though the investigation is still ongoing, the Turkish side has repeatedly voiced suspicions that the Gulen movement, and accused by the authorities of masterminding the 2016 failed coup attempt in Turkey, is linked to the attack.
Source: Sputnik
