AfSV Statement on Turkish Foreign Minister’s Claim Regarding Gulen’s Extradition

December 17, 2018 – Recent comments by the Turkish Foreign Minister regarding the G-20 meeting between President Trump and President Erdogan come just as Turkey’s lobbying activities have been further exposed. The charging of Bijan Kian and Ekim Alptekin for conspiracy against Mr. Gulen and for acting as an unregistered foreign agent shows just how far the Erdogan government will go in breaking US law. It comes as no surprise since the Turkish government has stamped out the rule of law in its own country — jailing the most journalists in the world, persecuting hundreds of thousands of innocent people, and failing to call for an impartial international inquiry of the failed July 2016 coup attempt.

As the charging of Kian and Alptekin show, the United States remains a strong adherent to the rule of law, and we expect and hope that Turkey’s single-minded and high-priced pursuit of Mr. Gulen will remain fruitless in the face of an extradition process governed by international treaty and the U.S. judicial system.

About Fethullah Gülen

Fethullah Gülen is an Islamic scholar, preacher and social advocate, whose decades‐long commitment to education, interfaith dialogue and altruism has inspired millions in Turkey and around the world. Gülen is the honorary chairman of the Rumi Forum, Washington, DC and the Intercultural Dialogue Platform, Brussels, Belgium.

About Alliance for Shared Values

The Alliance for Shared Values (AFSV) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that serves as a voice for cultural organizations affiliated with Hizmet, a civil society movement inspired by prominent preacher and peace advocate Fethullah Gülen. The Alliance strives to promote peace and social harmony by helping reduce misinformation and false stereotypes about any or all ethnic, cultural and religious communities. To learn more about the Alliance, please visit www.afsv.org.

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