ISTANBUL

Turkish PM  Erdoğan has said he conveyed to U.S. President Barack Obama his concerns about the activities of Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who lives in self-exile in Pennsylvania.

“I told Obama [during a recent phone conversation] that the person who is responsible for the unrest in Turkey lives in your country, in Pennsylvania. I told him this clearly. I said, ‘I expect what’s necessary [to be done].’ You have to take the necessary stance if someone threatens my country’s security,” Erdoğan said during an interview on private broadcaster ATV late March 6.

“[Obama] looked at it positively. ‘We got the message,’ he said,” he added.

Erdoğan accuses U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen over the leaks and the massive graft probe that has engulfed his government since mid-December.

Following graft probes that began on Dec. 17, 2013, implicating the Turkish government in massive levels of corruption, Erdoğan launched a massive struggle to purge Gülen’s sympathizers from the civil service.

The prime minister also said during the interview a Red Notice from Interpol may be sought for Gülen.
“Why not? You have to prepare the basis in the first place. And then prepare a thorough bulletin if you do,” he said.

Obama and Erdoğan held their first phone conversation in six months on Feb. 18.

The Gülen movement has denied any links with the probes and the leaks, but has repeatedly slammed the government over the purges.

March/07/2014