Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called on the Washington on Thursday to extradite U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, in exchange for the release of U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson, who has been in jail in Turkey since October 2016. The network of Gülen, Turkish government's former ally, was one of the masterminds of last year's failed coup attempt.
In May, U.S. President Donald Trump asked Erdoğan to release Brunson, who had been detained and arrested on charges of threat to national security during mass arrests following the thwarted coup.
"We have sent to you all the documents necessary for the extradition of Gulen. But you say, ‘give us the pastor [Brunson].’ You have another pastor in your hands, who lives in Pennsylvania [Gülen]. Give us that pastor and we will do what we can within our judiciary to give you this one," Erdoğan said in a speech at a police academy in Ankara.
It is easier for the U.S. side to extradite Gülen than for Ankara to extradite Brunson, because of the ongoing investigation by the Turkish authorities against the latter, Erdoğan added.
