Quartz: Turkey threatens war on “any country” supporting exiled cleric Gülen—like the USTurkish PM: Any country that stands by cleric Gulen will be at war with Turkey https://t.co/1JPi1nUTeO pic.twitter.com/VJcTrtVi6M— Reuters World (@ReutersWorld) July 16, 2016
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has threatened war against any country that would “stand by” Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen.
This is a pointed threat towards the United States, where Gülen has been living in self-imposed exile since 1999. The implicit demand, according to BBC’s Turkey correspondent Mark Lowen, is that the US must extradite Gülen.
Gülen is the leader of a movement called Hizmet, and has been called Turkey’s second most powerful man. Hizmet is estimated to have the support of 10% of Turkey’s population, and Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims Gülen was behind the recent attempted coup.
But the cleric has strongly denied that this is the case and the US has asked Turkey for evidence to support the accusations
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More News On The Deterioration Of U.S. - Turkish Relations
US-Turkish tensions rise after failed coup attempt -- AP
Turkish PM: Any country that stands by cleric Gulen will be at war with Turkey -- Reuters
Turkey accuses U.S. of harboring coup mastermind -- Politico
Turkey says US is 'no friend' for harboring 'coup planner' Gulen -- RT
Kerry Blasts Turkey for Insinuating that Washington Plotted Coup of Erdogan -- Sputnik
U.S. relationship with Turkey ‘is only going to get more complicated’ -- Greg Jaffe, Washington Post
