Hand over Gulen for jailed pastor
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the United States yesterday that Turkey could release a jailed American pastor if Washington handed over the Pennsylvania-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen who Ankara blames for last year's failed coup.
The US pastor, Andrew Brunson, has been held by Turkish authorities since October 2016 on charges of being a member of Gulen's group.
Ankara has repeatedly called for Gulen to be extradited to Turkey from the United States to face charges of ordering the failed coup bid.
Gulen, who has been living in self-imposed exile since 1999, strongly denies the accusations of involvement.
"They say 'give us the pastor'. You have a preacher (Gulen) there. Give him to us, and we will try (Brunson) and give him back," Erdogan said in a televised speech.
The evangelical pastor was initially detained with his wife, suspected of activities "against national security".
Norine Brunson was freed shortly after her detention, but her husband was charged with being a member of the Gulen movement in December.
They ran a Christian church in the Aegean city of Izmir.
Erdogan hit back at criticism of the Turkish judicial system after some American officials urged Ankara not to mix the cases of Gulen and Brunson.
"What does that mean? That you have a judiciary, but we do not have a judiciary?" Erdogan asked with heavy irony.
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