The parliamentary main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate in Turkey’s upcoming presidential elections warns to shut down a key American military base unless Washington extradites U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen.
"Washington must extradite Fethullah Gülen from the United States," Muharrem İnce told Turkey’s Fox TV in an interview late on May 16.
"If you [the United States] don’t return him, we will shut down İncirlik and send U.S. soldiers back on Dec. 24 and they can celebrate Christmas with their families," he added.
Fethullah Gülen had been a close ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's AKP government. Gülen's CIA-linked network, which had been organised in the police, judiciary, military and the other states institutions, helping Erdoğan to redesign and install his Islamic-rooted AKP party in power in 2002. But his alliance with the AKP has faltered in recent years. On 15 July 2016, the network of Gülen attempted to topple down Erdoğan by a military coup but it failed.
Erdoğan and AKP government have repeatedly asked Washington to extradite Gülen.
Turkey’s NATO air base in Incirlik also houses a stockpile of dozens of American tactical nuclear weapons.
