US must at least give Gülen house arrest: Turkish Deputy PM

The United States should at least give the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen house arrest, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş has said, adding that their alliance requires the U.S. to arrest him.

"What we're telling American authorities is that the nature of our relationship, our alliance in NATO for years, our strategic alliances in the Middle East, the intense history of Turkish-American relations and friendship requires this man [Gülen] to be immediately arrested," Kurtulmuş told journalists after a cabinet meeting on July 17.

Turkey has repeatedly requested Gülen's extradition from the U.S., saying that all the necessary files for him to be arrested and sent back to Turkey were delivered to the U.S. authorities.

The U.S., in return, has been saying that the legal process into the issue has been ongoing. 

The extradition of Gülen has been an element of tension between Ankara and Washington and the issue came to the agenda with the latest interviews the leader of the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) gave western media.

Gülen is widely believed to have been behind the July 15 coup attempt that left 250 people killed and 2,193 others wounded.

During his speech, Kurtulmuş said it's unacceptable for "the leader of a killer organization with blood on its hands" to continue its activities from the U.S.

"If you are saying 'This is a judicial process,' then you should arrest the man where he is and if you're not extraditing him to us, at least limit his activities by bringing him under house arrest," he also said. 

Saying that Gülen continues to threaten Turkey, Kurtulmuş noted that the U.S. should incapacitate him from leading his network to remove his potential to...