Præsident  Trumps tidligere sikkerhedsrådgiver, Michael Flynn, har spillet en tvivlsom rolle som rådgiver for Tyrkiet. På et møde i New York den 19. september drøftede man udleveringen af Fetullah Gülen – stifteren af Gülen-bevægelsen og den mand Erdogan anklager for at stå bag kupforsøget mod ham sidste år –  uden om domstolene.

Det afslører den tidligere CIA-direktør under Bill Clinton, James Woolsey. Flynn var på det tidspunkt konsulent for Tyrkiet. Først efter han var gået af som national sikkerhedsrådgiver informerede han om hvervet som rådgiver, der varede fra august til november og som indbragte ham 530.000 dollar, udbetalt fra et hollandsk firma af en tyrker.

Mødedeltagerne i september siger noget om betydningen og alvoren: Tyrkiets udenrigsminister Mevlut Cavusoglu og Erdogans svigersøn, energiminister Berat Albayrak.  Woolsey siger, at han fik et chok, da det gik op for ham, hvad de talte om.

Retired Army Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, while serving as an adviser to the Trump campaign, met with top Turkish government ministers and discussed removing a Muslim cleric from the U.S. and taking him to Turkey, according to former Central Intelligence Agency Director James Woolsey, who attended, and others who were briefed on the meeting.

The discussion late last summer involved ideas about how to get Fethullah Gulen, a cleric whom Turkey has accused of orchestrating last summer’s failed military coup, to Turkey without going through the U.S. extradition legal process, according to Mr. Woolsey and those who were briefed.

..

Mr. Woolsey said the idea was “a covert step in the dead of night to whisk this guy away.” The discussion, he said, didn’t include actual tactics for removing Mr. Gulen from his U.S. home. If specific plans had been discussed, Mr. Woolsey said, he would have spoken up and questioned their legality.

Konsulentarbejdet for Erdogan var blandt de faktorer som gjorde, at Trump droppede Flynn. Det var ikke alene den omstændighed, at han ikke fortalte hele sandheden om russer-samtalerne til vicepræsident Pence.

Mr. Trump was unaware Mr. Flynn had been consulting on behalf of the Turkish government when he named him national security adviser, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said this month.

Forholdet mellem USA og Tyrkiet var dårligt efter kuppet og modkuppet i sommeren 2016. At USAs nationale sikkerhedsrådgiver skulle være konsulent for Erdogan, var helt i skoven og tyder på elendig dømmekraft.

Flynns omdømme er stærkt svekket.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/ex-cia-director-mike-flynn-and-turkish-officials-discussed-removal-of-erdogan-foe-from-u-s-1490380426?mod=trending_now_1