Visible facts and real facts in Turkish-US relations

When Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ visited Washington, he made a very good comment on the Gülen community in a meeting at SETA. 

He said the Gülenists had a visible face but on the other hand there were the facts. True, but this is not only valid for Gülenists but for several other matters, from the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to how Turkey handles the Gülen issue. 

Gülen

Visible: Turkey says the extradition of Gülen is the top priority; the United States has also appointed six prosecutors on the extradition file in a show of keenness. 

Facts: Bozdağ spoke with his U.S. counterpart, Loretta Lynch, for 90 minutes, mostly on Gülen. But at the end of the meeting, he suddenly brought up the Reza Zarrab issue and said it was a political case. Lynch did not say anything; she just listened. Turkey has a tendency to couple the extradition of Gülen together with the Zarrab case. There are domestic objections to this; some experts argue that this strategy will harm Turkey. However, Ankara's lawyer on the activities of the Gülen Community in the U.S., Bob Amsterdam, has a critical role in this strategy. Despite the visible U.S. keenness on the Gülen file, they are not able to explain why the FBI investigation on Gülen schools launched in 2011 has not become a case yet. 

ISIL

Visible: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in his phone conversation with President Obama said Turkey was ready for military operation on al-Bab, Manbij and Raqqa. 

Facts: That phone conversation occurred after concerns emerged in Washington because of the possibility that Turkey would engage in unilateral action during the Mosul operation and the Raqqa siege. Turkey has not...