Erdoğan says discussed 'parallel structure' with Obama, NSC quiet
Turkish media outlets reported that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan discussed the so-called "parallel structure" during his meeting with US President Barack Obama on Friday, though the US National Security Council (NSC) did not mention the subject in its initial statement about the meeting.
The term "parallel structure" is a reference used by ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) officials to refer to the faith-based Hizmet movement.
Erdoğan met with Obama for approximately one-and-a-half hours on Friday on the sidelines of the NATO summit last week in Newport, Wales.
The White House published a statement by NSC Spokesperson Caitlin Hayden late on Friday saying that the two leaders exchanged views on how best to cooperate in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and "violent extremism" in Iraq and Syria, and on the need for strengthened measures against foreign fighters transiting to and from the battlefield.
Turkey has been accused by the Western press of turning a blind eye to extremists traveling from Europe and elsewhere into Syria via Turkey in recent years. Ankara categorically denies these allegations. The Obama administration is working on building a coalition against the threat of ISIL, and Turkey is likely to form part of a 10-nation core coalition group led by the US in opposition to ISIL.
NSC Spokesperson Hayden also said Obama and Erdoğan discussed the urgent need for effective pressure and diplomacy aimed at bringing an end to the conflicts in Ukraine and Libya.
"The President and President Erdoğan also discussed the importance of building tolerant and inclusive societies and combating the scourge of anti-Semitism," Hayden said.
Erdoğan's "inflammatory" and "offensive" remarks in recent months, often considered anti-Semitic or anti-American in tone, have contributed to tension between Turkey and the US. American officials have regularly criticized Erdoğan's remarks concerning Israel, suggesting that such remarks only damage Turkey's international standing and reduce its ability to influence the region positively.
According to reports in Turkish media on Sunday, Erdoğan, speaking to journalists on his way back to Turkey from Wales, was asked if he had requested the extradition to Turkey of the Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who lives in the US. Erdoğan told Turkish media outlets prior to the NATO summit that he would ask Obama to extradite Gülen. Erdoğan claims Gülen poses a threat to Turkey's national security by allegedly controlling the faith-based Hizmet movement in Turkey and attempting to topple the Turkish government. Gülen is in self-imposed exile in the US, though there is no legal hurdle preventing him from returning to Turkey.
Erdoğan, according to the Turkish press, said on the plane that during his meeting with Obama he had mentioned the so-called "parallel structure."
"In particular I emphasized to [Obama] the need for our intelligence organizations to coordinate more closely on this issue and the need to focus on this [parallel] structure, which threatens Turkey's national security," Erdoğan said.
Erdoğan also stated that, in addition to collaboration between intelligence agencies, the US State Department and the Turkish Foreign Ministry will work together and follow the "parallel structure" very closely.
When asked about how Obama will approach the issue, Erdoğan said: "At this point, of course, their approach is to ask for all the documents and information from us about this matter."
According to the Hürriyet daily, when asked whether Obama views the reports of alleged eavesdropping on Erdoğan as sufficient proof of wrongdoing on the part of the "parallel state," Erdoğan said: "Hearing something like this is different; receiving documents about it is different. Of course, they have heard all about [the eavesdropping allegations]. Our guys will do the necessary work on that and later we will present more documents to [Obama] about the issue."
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