Turkey has asked Washington to arrest US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen for allegedly ordering and commanding the July coup attempt, state media reported on Tuesday.
It’s the first formal request for the US to arrest Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania and has denied any involvement in the failed putsch.
Turkish officials have been informally asking for his extradition for weeks.
US Vice President Joe Biden said last month he understood the “intense feeling” in Turkey over Gulen.
But he told President Erdogan the US needed to meet its own legal standards on the case.
Biden reassures Erdogan but Turkey-US tensions persist over Gulen https://t.co/NoEzXRfh50 pic.twitter.com/2EgnlM3y19— euronews (@euronews) August 24, 2016
On the evening of July 15 in Ankara, rogue soldiers used tanks and jets to bomb parliament and control bridges, in a bid to seize power, but were defeated by pro-government supporters. More than 270 people were killed in the violent uprising.
Turkey has blamed members of Gulen’s religious movement, and tens of thousands of suspected Gülen supporters have been dismissed from jobs in the judiciary, armed services or media, with many imprisoned.
The US said last month it has received a formal extradition request for Gulen from Ankara, but it was not over the July coup attempt, rather for other issues for which he was being sought by authorities in Ankara.
With agencies
