Turkish coup inquiry may speak directly to Fethullah Gulen: Report

A Turkish parliamentary inquiry into the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen will speak directly to him, despite the cleric being branded a "terrorist" in his native country.

According to the Sozcu daily, the commission - which was set up to investigate the events surrounding the 15 July coup attempt blamed on Gulen's followers - will seek to travel to the US to communicate with Gulen himself.

Justice and Development party (AKP) MP Erzincan Serkan Bayram, the commission's secretary, made the announcement on Friday, saying it would "contribute" to the process of establishing the extent his involvement in the coup attempt.

The AKP has long accused the cleric of working to undermine the Turkish state, after a fallout between the erstwhile allies in 2013.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pulled no punches in his desire to see Gulen extradited from the US to face trial in Turkey for masterminding the coup attempt.

“Once they hand over that head terrorist in Pennsylvania to us, everything will be clear,” Erdogan told a crowd in Istanbul, shortly after the failed coup that left as many as 300 people dead.

In May, the Turkish government designated what they termed the Fethullahist Terror Organisation (FETO) an official terrorist group in May. Since the failed coup there have been intensive efforts to arrest or fire people in all walks of Turkish society who are accused of having links to the cleric's movement.

The decision by the commission to seek to speak to Gulen therefore comes as a surprise.

"I support the proposal," said Aykut Erdogdu, an MP for the opposition secular-nationalist Republican People's Party (CHP), after the announcement.

"Go and ask him to his face: did you do it?"

Middle East Eye is unaware whether Gulen has responded to the proposal.

Relations between Turkey and the US have been strained over Washington's failure to extradite Gulen.

In September, Turkey made a formal request for Gulen's extradition, charged with “ordering and leading the coup attempt”, but the process could take years to be resolved. Analysts have argued that the extradition could be deemed politically motivated and delayed as a result.

Gulen, who has repeatedly denied involvement in the coup, has called for an international commission to set up to investigate the events surrounding it, saying he will happily cooperate based on the findings.

"An international organisation should examine the issue. If the charges are correct, I will gladly accept what they want. But they haven't proven anything or responded to my suggestions. It's all just pure conjecture," Gulen told ZDF.

"If they can prove that I spoke personally or by telephone with those responsible for the attempted coup, I would be happy to bear the consequences," he said.

Tens of thousands of people have filed appeals after being implicated in the coup investigations, the Turkish prime minister said on Friday.

"There are over 70,000 appeals. This will take time, the mechanism has been set up at the ministries," Binali Yildirim told reporters in televised comments.

He said each request would be handled carefully, though he did not clarify whether they had come from the tens of thousands of people who have been detained, suspended from their jobs in the public sector or remanded in custody.

Some 32,000 suspects have been remanded in custody so far, according to government figures.

Additional reporting by AFP