TURKEY'S PRESIDENT RECEP Tayyip Erdogan places the blame for this weekend's failed coup attempt on an Islamic preacher and one-time ally, Fethullah Gulen (above), who now resides in Pennsylvania with a green card. Erdogan is demanding the U.S. extradite Gulen, citing prior extraditions by the Turkish government of terror suspects demanded by the U.S.: "Now we're saying deliver this guy who's on our terrorist list to us." Erdogan has been requesting Gulen's extradition from the U.S. for at least two years, on the ground that he has been subverting the Turkish government while harbored by the U.S. Thus far, the U.S. is refusing, with Secretary of State John Kerry demanding of Turkey: "Give us the evidence, show us the evidence. We need a solid legal foundation that meets the standard of extradition."
In light of the presence on U.S. soil of someone the Turkish government regards as a "terrorist" and a direct threat to its national security, would Turkey be justified in dispatching a weaponized drone over Pennsylvania to find and kill Gulen if the U.S. continues to refuse to turn him over, or sending covert operatives to kidnap him? That was the question posed yesterday by Col. Morris Davis, former chief prosecutor of Guantanamo's military commissions who resigned in protest over the use of torture-obtained evidence:
Col. Morris Davis @ColMorrisDavis
If Fethullah Gulen is considered a threat to Erdogan & Turkey's gov't doesn't Turkey have a right to drone strike him in Pennsylvania? @ CNN
That question, of course, is raised by the fact that the U.S. has spent many years now doing exactly this: employing various means -- including but not limited to drones -- to abduct and kill people in multiple countries whom it has unilaterally decided (with no legal process) are "terrorists" or who otherwise are alleged to pose a threat to its national security. Since it cannot possibly be the case that the U.S. possesses legal rights that no other country can claim -- right? -- the question naturally arises whether Turkey would be entitled to abduct or kill someone it regards as a terrorist when the U.S. is harboring him and refuses to turn him over.
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