Administration looks to extradite Turkish dissident to help Saudis

[Kentonio]

This is unbelievable. The administration is looking at ways to extradite Turkish dissident Gulen back to Turkey (where he would certainly be killed) much to the fury of career government staff. Gulen has a green card and has lived in the US since the 90’s. It’s believed that this would help take pressure of the Saudis by placating Turkey. Nothing more or less than selling a man’s life to help an autocratic and oppressive regime.

Trump administration officials last month asked federal law enforcement agencies to examine legal ways of removing exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, according to two senior U.S. officials and two other people briefed on the requests. The effort includes directives to the Justice Department and FBI that officials reopen Turkey's case for his extradition, as well as a request to the Homeland Security Department for information about his legal status, the four people said.

This is particularly twisted considering General Flynn and his son are alleged to have been in discussions with Turkey before his removal about renditioning Gulen to Turkey for a payment of $15m. If Trump gets away with this, it seems they have a bargain.

 

[Nithavela]

The best government money can buy.

 

[sfs]

It’s believed that this would help take pressure of the Saudis by placating Turkey. Nothing more or less than selling a man’s life to help an autocratic and oppressive regime.

It's selling a man's life to persuade one autocratic and oppressive regime to stop pressuring another autocratic and oppressive regime over the latter's murder of another US resident. But hey, the president's personal financial interests are on the line so sacrifices have to be made.

 

[TLK Valentine]

Considering the character of the administration, is it really that unbelievable?

 

[Kentonio]

Considering the character of the administration, is it really that unbelievable?

If they’d done it covertly then no, but openly considering it seems a bit much even for this bunch.

 

[TLK Valentine]

If they’d done it covertly then no, but openly considering it seems a bit much even for this bunch.

Why not? The base either approves, doesn't care, or will dismiss any coverage of it as "Fake News," and outside the base.... do they really care?

 

[Hank77]

The standard for extradition....From the above NBC article

Turkey provided boxes of materials to the U.S. in 2016 that Erdogan says shows Gulen was behind the failed coup. But officials at the Justice Department and FBI didn't find evidence that met the standard for extradition, which requires U.S. prosecutors to determine that someone committed crimes abroad that would also be illegal in the U.S.

 

[cow451]

Considering the character of the administration, is it really that unbelievable?

SOP?

 

[cow451]

This just in... President Trump is sending a Turk to Erdogan for Thanksgiving.

I apologize. Sometimes the temptation is more than I can bear.

 

[mark46]

Bad PR on the assassination, so now 6 people need to die as a deal between Saudi Arabia, the US and Turkey.

NOT
===
I suggest that our CIA share all the information that we have with all of our allies, including Turkey and Great Britain.
====
I suspect that Trump promised the delivery of the dissident in return for the cooperation the have given. Perhaps Flynn negotiated the deal.

 

[Douger]

This really surprised me. I kept wondering "what does Turkey want from this?" and wow, did they want something big.
It didn't occur to me that Gulen could be the answer. This is the Holy Grail of asks.
This means that they MUST have evidence tying the Kashoggi murder to Bin Salman in such an undeniable way that if it was released, the king would have to step in and say "You're done son." So the Turks know that Saudi Arabia will be leaning very heavily on the US (Trump) to make this happen.
This also explains why the CIA leaked their opinion. The Gulen movement is important to the CIA as a tool for their influence in Turkey and so the CIA is trying to protect Gulen by stealing Erdogan's trump (haha!) card and declaring to the world that Bin Salman is guilty. Erdogan can't do blackmail with information that's already out there.

 

[super animator]

Considering the character of the administration, is it really that unbelievable?

Welcome to the club.

 

[essentialsaltes]

This is unbelievable. The administration is looking at ways to extradite Turkish dissident Gulen back to Turkey (where he would certainly be killed) much to the fury of career government staff. Gulen has a green card and has lived in the US since the 90’s. It’s believed that this would help take pressure of the Saudis by placating Turkey. Nothing more or less than selling a man’s life to help an autocratic and oppressive regime.

This is particularly twisted considering General Flynn and his son are alleged to have been in discussions with Turkey before his removal about renditioning Gulen to Turkey for a payment of $15m. If Trump gets away with this, it seems they have a bargain.

Rudolph W. Giuliani privately urged President Trump in 2017 to extradite a Turkish cleric living in exile in the United States, a top priority of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to multiple former administration officials familiar with the discussions.

Giuliani, a Trump ally who later became the president’s personal attorney, repeatedly argued to Trump that the U.S. government should eject Fethullah Gulen from the country, according to the former officials, who spoke on the condition on anonymity to describe private conversations.

The former New York mayor brought up Gulen so frequently with Trump during visits to the White House that one former official described the subject as Giuliani’s “hobby horse.” He was so focused on the issue — “it was all Gulen,” recalled a second former official — that White House aides worried that Giuliani was making the case on behalf of the Turkish government, former officials said.