US court gives Gülen 21 days to present his defense

The extradition of U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen was "unofficially" demanded in a civil suit filed last week by lawyers hired by the Turkish government, while a judge who accepted the appeal has given Gülen 21 days to respond to accusations filed against him.

The lawsuit cited three citizens of the Republic of Turkey as plaintiffs who say they have been victimized by the Gülen Movement. Although it hired the lawyers of the case, the Turkish government is not named as a plaintiff in the suit, which was filed on Dec. 7 at a district court in Pennsylvania.

Gülen was one a close ally of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government and President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, but relations have soured in recent years.

In order for an extradition to take place, the subject of the case must have committed a crime. 

"This lawsuit will display that the Gülen Movement does not have immunity in the U.S.," Robert Amsterdam, the founder of U.K.-based firm Amsterdam and Partners LLP which filed the suit, told Hürriyet.

Amsterdam and Partners LLP filed the suit along with Pennsylvania-based law firm Fox Rothschild LLP, as Gülen has lived in Pennsylvania since 1999. In statement to Hürriyet, Amsterdam underlined that their appeal was not linked to a separate request for extradition said to have been filed by the Turkish government. 

According to information obtained by Hürriyet, Judge Robert Mariani, having put Amsterdam's petition in process with file number "3:15?CV?02354?RDM" also wrote a document addressed to Gülen on Dec. 7, asking him to respond to the allegations within 21 days.

In a separate document dated Dec. 9 and sent to the attorneys of the complainants, Mariani announced that he would hold a...