Since the United States has been slow to respond to the extradition request, some Turkish officials in recent days have suggested that it supported the assassination of Karlov -- prompting a sharp rebuke from State Department spokesman John Kirby on December 20, Radio Liberty informs.
Kirby said Kerry raised concerns about "some of the rhetoric coming out of Turkey with respect to American involvement or support, tacit or otherwise, for this unspeakable assassination yesterday because of the presence of Mr. Gulen here in the United States."
"It's a ludicrous claim, absolutely false. There's no basis of truth in it whatsoever. And the secretary made that very clear in his discussions today with the foreign minister. We need to let the investigators do their job and we need to let the facts and the evidence take them where it is before we jump to conclusions," Kirby said.