Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that US President Joe Biden deliberately hid Fethullah Gulen in Pennsylvania.
Erdogan, once an ally of Gulen, believes his Hizmet (service) Movement was behind the coup attempt against his regime on July 15, 2016.
“Who protects them (Gulen’s movement)? It is, first of all, Greece. They flee to Greece, they flee to Europe. They have always fled there. They live in Germany, France, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and the United States,” Erdogan told reporters who accompanied him on his way back from the Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States that was held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Nov 11.
“The US is hiding this man (Gulen). Who is hiding him? It is Biden who is hiding him. They gave him a huge mansion in Pennsylvania where he currently lives,” Erdogan added, stressing that the mansion is a “terrorism hub.”
Gulen has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999. He denied accusations that he had masterminded the failed putsch and demanded an impartial investigation.
The previous US administrations of presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump refused requests from Türkiye to extradite him, and demanded that Ankara provide compelling evidence that Gulen’s movement was involved in the failed coup.
The Turkish government labeled Gulen’s movement as the “Fethullah Terrorist Organization” (FETO). It is not a designated terrorist organization in the US.
In response to a question about the movement’s ongoing activities in some central Asian countries, Erdogan said the leaders of these countries say they are countering the movement and its activities in their countries.
He added that he discussed the issue with the leaders of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
Erdogan cited intelligence information stating that there are elements affiliated with the movement who work in these countries’ institutions. However, the countries denied this information.
