Turkey issues warrant for Gulen after coup
 

Closing EU door to Ankara ‘serious mistake’



ANKARA/Berlin: Turkey issued a formal arrest warrant on Thursday for US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen after the July 15 coup attempt aimed at ousting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, state-run media reported.

An Istanbul court issued the warrant, the first after the failed putsch for the reclusive cleric in Pennsylvania, the Anadolu news agency said.

In the warrant, Gulen stands accused of "ordering the July 15 coup", Anadolu reported.

Gulen strongly denies any involvement and the movement he leads insists it is a charitable network promoting tolerant Islam.

Turkey previously issued an arrest warrant for Gulen in December 2014 on charges of setting up and directing an "armed terrorist organisation" as well as using intimidation to deprive a person of their freedom.

Ankara has frequently called on the United States to extradite Gulen, sending two sets of documents to Washington since the coup as evidence of his involvement in the putsch attempt.

Turkey has yet to make a formal extradition request to the US for Gulen.

A rogue faction within the military tried to wrest control of the country on July 15, launching attacks on parliament and the president’s palace. At least 238 people were killed and nearly 2,200 injured after people took to the streets and squares against the putschists. Since then thousands have been purged from their roles in the judiciary, police, military and education system, accused of being members of the coup movement while more than 18,000 people have been detained.

Meanwhile European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker on Thursday rejected Austria’s call for the EU to end membership talks with Ankara, warning that it would be a grave error.

"If one gives the impression to Turkey **w that, ** matter what, the EU is **t ready to take in Turkey, then I would say that is a serious foreign policy mistake," Juncker told German public broadcaster ARD.

"I don’t think it would be helpful if we were to unilaterally end negotiations with Turkey," he said, adding that in any case such decisions can only be made with unanimity from all member states.

"I don’t see this willingness among all member states at this point in time" to break off talks, he said.

At the same time, Juncker ack**wledged that Turkey has work to do in order to meet membership conditions set by the bloc.

"Turkey can**t be a member of the European Union in its current state, and especially **t if it decided, as some have warned, to reinstate the death penalty. That would lead to the immediate breaking off of negotiations," he warned.

The West has been alarmed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s suggestion that he may reintroduce the death penalty after the July 15 attempted putsch.

That and other human rights concerns over the broad *****down following the coup have frayed ties between Turkey and the EU.

Ankara had signalled that it could ditch a controversial deal with the EU to halt migrant flows to Europe, if the bloc failed to meet its promises including granting visa-free travel to Turks as well as accelerating membership talks. Juncker himself had warned last week that the pact was at risk of breaking down.

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