Erdoğan calls on Obama to deport Gülen from US

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has signalled that he is set to ask U.S. President Barack Obama for the “deportation” of Pennsylvania-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen, referring to coup and spying allegations against the Gülen movement.

“Pennsylvania is the focal point of these affairs,” he told a group of journalists on board the new presidential plane, registered as TR-TUR, during his official trip from Azerbaijan to Wales for the NATO Summit on Sept. 4.

“Of course, with America, we are strategic partners, we have a model partnership and we’re handing over the terrorists that they want us to hand over, so now we’re telling them the situation: Either deport him [Gülen] or hand him over to us,” added Erdoğan, who is scheduled to meet Obama in Wales on Sept. 5.

Here are Erdoğan’s answers to the questions posed on board:

You have announced that you will leave the presidential mansion in Çankaya to the prime minister. Why? Is it because you want a strong prime minister?

I believe that my friend Mr. Davutoğlu, who has become prime minister, will do the job strongly and successfully. We can permit the Prime Ministry to use Çankaya for certain ceremonies and receptions, after we’re moved to the new Presidential Palace in Söğütözü [an Ankara neighborhood where a new complex has been built]. This is because the Prime Ministry does not have enough space to organize receptions at its current location. Is the prime minister supposed to go to a hotel to organize a reception?

The room where we host guests at the official residence is also not enough. It’s narrow and it’s not elegant. Turkey is not the old Turkey any more. The New Turkey should show itself in certain ways. The...

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