Turkish officials press U.S. to extradite cleric, as country’s instability complicates West’s efforts against Islamic State
Turkey’s location and Western ties have made it a cornerstone of U.S. strategy against Islamic State as well as efforts to resolve the Syrian conflict. Above, Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President Barack Obama attended a G20 summit last year.WASHINGTON—The failed coup attempt in Turkey has fueled a sharp conflict with Washington over the fate of a Turkish cleric in the U.S., while posing a broader challenge to the West’s efforts to fight terror and promote liberal democracy.
Senior Turkish government officials are pressing the Obama administration to extradite cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom they blame for orchestrating the attempted coup. The gap between the two allies’ agendas became clear Sunday, when U.S. officials responded to Ankara’s demands that he be handed over by spelling out the legal procedures and evidence hurdles involved in that process.
More broadly, any erosion of democracy in Turkey, a key U.S. ally in the fight against Islamic State and a North Atlantic Treaty Organization member, complicates some of the most critical tests facing President Barack Obama in his final months in office and his successor thereafter.
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Turkey’s strategic location and Western ties have made it a cornerstone of U.S. strategy against Islamic State as well as efforts to resolve the Syrian conflict and stem the flow of migrants to Europe.
While the U.K.’s recent Brexit vote threatens the European Union, the coup attempt in Turkey poses new challenges to NATO, by adding a sudden outbreak of instability on the alliance’s eastern flank and stoking concern over the Erdogan government’s reaction.
That all spells a period of uncertainty for the West’s two most important multilateral institutions.
An immediate question is how much importance Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan places on the prompt extradition of Mr. Gulen, the Turkish cleric who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999.
Secretary of State John Kerry warned Ankara on Sunday against accusing the U.S. of “harboring” Mr. Gulen, saying any extradition request would be considered under U.S. policies and procedures.
The U.S. has an extradition treaty with Turkey, but the process can take months or longer, depending on the particulars of the case.
The Justice Department must weigh the charges and evidence, and can then seek an arrest warrant if justified. A judicial hearing rules on extradition, and the defendant can appeal an adverse ruling. The secretary of state makes a final determination on handing someone over, based partly on humanitarian concerns, such as the likelihood of torture or mistreatment.
The U.S. has another vital, immediate interest: Incirlik Air Base in southeastern Turkey. The military asset, central to the U.S. presence and strategy in the Middle East, has been thrust into the fallout over the coup bid, unsettling crucial military ties between Ankara and Washington. U.S. aircraft operations there had returned to normal Sunday after Turkey closed airspace around the base for a time.
The coup attempt caps a month of major global developments: terrorist attacks from Turkey and Bangladesh to France and the U.S., moves by Russia and China to reassert power, and more saber-rattling from North Korea.
The dynamic unfolds as Mr. Obama de-emphasizes the role of the U.S. military in global hot spots and as populist and anti-globalization sentiments fuel the American presidential race, adding up to potential shifts in America’s global role.
“What we have is a world that’s unraveling and a United States—still the most important country in the world—that’s retrenching. It’s a toxic combination,” said Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations. “Centrifugal forces are much stronger right now than anything trying to move toward balance.”
Another growing concern in Washington and other capitals is how far the democratically elected Turkish leader Mr. Erdogan may now tread into undemocratic tactics against his opponents.
Not long ago, the U.S. viewed Turkey as a model for how democracy and Islam could coexist. Any new strides toward an authoritarian state there would embolden countries like Russia and China, said Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador