"One of these is the extradition of [Fetullah] Gulen who is the leader of a bandit gang that commited a crime against the entire [Turkish] population during the July 15 coup [attempt]. The second fundamental issue is the end of the support to the PYD," Kurtulmus was quoted as saying by the Anadolu news agency.
Turkey has repeatedly called on the US authorities to extradite Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, who has been living in the US state of Pennsylvania since 1999. Ankara accused him of masterminding the military coup attempt on July 15, when over 240 people were killed and some 2,000 were wounded. Washington so far has refused to hand over Gulen to Turkey.
The relations between the two countries were also deteriorated due to Washington’s support for Syrian Kurdish PYD forces to counter Daesh in Syria, as Ankara considers PYD to have links with the pro-independence Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), active in southeastern Turkey and listed as a terrorist organization by Ankara.
