Türkiye rules out possibility of Gulen fleeing to Egypt

(Baonghean.vn) - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on July 28 that cleric Fethullah Gulen may have left the US for other countries, except Egypt.

Türkiye ruled out the possibility of Gulen fleeing to Egypt. Photo: AP

"We have no information about Mr. Gulen's ties to Egypt, but we know he may have fled to other countries," Mr. Cavusoglu told CNN.

Earlier, Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozda told Haberturk TV that cleric Gulen may have fled the US to Australia, Mexico, Canada, South Africa or Egypt. On the Egyptian side, Prime Minister Ismail Sherif said the country had not received a request for political asylum from Mr. Gulen but would be ready to consider such a request.

On the night of July 16, a group of rebels attempted a coup in Ankara and Istanbul but failed. According to the latest reports, 246 people, not including the rebels, were killed and more than 2,000 others were injured.

On July 20, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a state of emergency across the entire country for three months.

Fethullah Gulen is accused by the Turkish government of being behind the coup attempt to overthrow Mr. Erdogan. Mr. Gulen has lived in exile in Pennsylvania, USA, since 1999. The Turkish government sent a formal request to Washington to extradite Mr. Gulen back to Turkey after the failed coup.

Thanh Hien

(According to Tass)