海角大神

After vowing for months to 鈥減unish鈥� those responsible聽for what he calls聽an attempted 鈥渃ivilian coup,鈥� Turkey鈥檚 Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called today on the United States to extradite a Pennsylvania-based Islamic cleric.聽

Mr. Erdogan has accused Fethullah Gulen 鈥撀燼 former ally who has lived in the US since 1997 鈥� of creating a 鈥減arallel state鈥� with his followers to control Turkey鈥檚 judiciary and security forces, and of聽leaking聽wiretapped conversations聽that exposed alleged corruption by Erdogan and his inner circle.聽Since December three cabinet ministers聽have resigned.聽

In the wake of the scandal, Erdogan has reassigned thousands of police officers and hundreds of prosecutors and investigators involved in those cases,聽while denying claims of corruption in his government.

Mr. Gulen,聽whose organization runs an extensive network of charter schools in the US and Turkey, has denied trying聽to unseat his erstwhile ally.聽And any extradition request is likely to meet a chilly reception in Washington: President Barack Obama聽showed his displeasure聽with AKP handling of anti-government protests last June by not speaking to Erdogan for six months.聽

The White House has since criticized Erdogan鈥檚 effort to curb social media, especially Twitter and YouTube, and to give further powers to intelligence agencies.聽Turkey's highest court later overturned the ban on Twitter to the anger of Erdogan, who said the ruling was against Turkey's national interests.聽

Since the heavy-handed police crackdown last聽summer聽that drenched protestors with tear gas for weeks, Erdogan has lashed out in public speeches, blaming everyone from media conglomerates and a global 鈥渋nterest-rate lobby鈥� to Jews, Americans, and 鈥撀爏ince December 鈥撀爐he alleged 鈥減arallel structure鈥� created by Gulen.

Defying his critics, Erdogan led his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to another election victory聽in municipal elections聽a month ago.

In an interview broadcast late聽on Monday, Erdogan was asked by PBS talk show host Charlie Rose if he just 鈥渨oke up one day鈥� to find his government had been infiltrated by a 鈥減arallel state.鈥�

鈥淲e were aware that they were trying to infiltrate various organizations, but we were not aware of their ultimate bad intentions, and we felt, we realized this after awhile and we began taking some measures,鈥� said Erdogan.

鈥淵es, it was a coup. It was a civilian coup. This is what they were doing,鈥� said Erdogan. If he had 鈥渞emained silent鈥� after the release of wiretapped conversations, and the explosion of critical interest in the Turkish media and on Twitter then 鈥渢hings might have gone a different way,鈥� Erdogan told Mr. Rose.

Greater surveillance powers

Criticism has grown over government steps, including a new law that gives Turkey鈥檚 national intelligence agency greater surveillance powers, more immunity, and jail time for sensitive leaks.

It's unclear on what grounds Turkey would seek to extradite Gulen to stand trial in Turkey, a NATO ally.聽Under聽a 1979 US-Turkey treaty, Turkey聽must聽first issue a warrant for Gulen鈥檚 arrest and produce evidence of a crime. The treaty聽exempts all crimes of a 鈥減olitical character,鈥� according to Reuters.

Erdogan said Turkey complied with 10 past extradition requests from the US, and warned that Gulen could pose a risk 鈥渂ecause what they do to us here, they might do against their host.鈥�

From self-imposed exile in the US, Gulen has exercised influence through a network of schools and businesses in Turkey and abroad.聽For years, this network helped propel Erdogan and the rise of his聽Islam-rooted AKP.聽Now the fallout between the rival groupings has cast a long shadow over Erdogan's rule, adding weight to charges of increasingly authoritarian rule.聽