Already strained Turkish-U.S. relations have been further soured after Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) member Ahmet Sait Yayla was invited to speak to a congressional panel Wednesday that focused on the developments in Turkey and the July 15 Gülenist coup attempt. Yayla is a former police chief who was suspended from duty due to his alleged links to the terrorist group. Despite that, he was able to testify before the U.S. Congress on a hotbed topic: the July 15 coup attempt. Having understood that he cannot stay in Turkey as a terrorist group member, Yayla, who was chairman of the sociology department at Harran University, and a former Gülenist police chief, fled to the U.S. last November after it became public that he had links to FETÖ leader Fethullah Gülen.
Since the launch of TCA's Syrian Refugee Campaign in June 2016, TCA has distributed humanitarian grants to several organizations working directly on the ground with Syrian refugees in Turkey. These organizations include Refugee Volunteers of Izmir (ReVi), Butun Cocuklar Bizim (All Children are Ours), and Sureli Destek (Periodic Support).
The Turkish Justice Ministry sent its first formal request for the United States to extradite Pennsylvania-based cleric Fethullah Gulen today, according to a Turkish news agency. Previously, Turkish officials had issued public verbal demands for Gulen's extradition, but this represents the first time that formal paperwork was delivered to send the cleric to Turkey to face charges that he initiated the failed coup attempt that took place in that country in July.
After drafting two teenage skilled big men in June, the Suns have hired Mehmet Okur as a player development coach to help them reach their potential. Okur, 37, retired four years ago after a 10-season NBA career in which he was a 2007 All-Star and was known as a clutch NBA shooting big man. Okur is best known for his seven-year run in Utah, where his last season (2010-11) was spent with Suns head coach Earl Watson as a Jazz teammate and new Suns assistant coach Tyrone Corbin as the Jazz head coach.
