15 August 2018•Update: 15 August 2018
ANKARA
If Washington extradites a U.S.-based fugitive terrorist leader to Turkey, a handover of U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson -- currently on trial in Turkey -- may also be possible, said the leader of Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) on Wednesday
“If the traitor in Pennsylvania is extradited to our country, the handover of the pastor may be in the offing, and both countries will get what they want,” Devlet Bahceli told reporters in the capital Ankara, referring Fetullah Gulen, mastermind of a deadly coup attempt in Turkey.
Pennsylvania-based Gulen and his Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) orchestrated the July 2016 defeated coup in Turkey which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.
Bahceli does not speak for Turkey's Justice and Development (AK) Party government, but his party is in alliance with the AK Party in parliament.
The MHP leader added that the conspiracy trying to force Turkey’s surrender to a speculative attack on currency rates will be defeated, voicing support for the decision to boycott U.S. technology products and some goods.
He underlined that Turkey is not in an economic crisis, but under attack, with “hostility at the highest level.”
“With the measures and the newly announced economic approach, the dark clouds on the horizon will dissipate. We have full faith,” he added.
Turkey and the U.S. are currently experiencing rocky relations since Washington imposed sanctions on two Turkish Cabinet ministers after Ankara refused to release Brunson, who faces terrorism-related charges in Turkey.
Last Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on aluminum and steel imports from Turkey.
Reporting by Mehmet Tosun: Writing by Kubra Chohan
