Turkey-US Ties to Be Affected If US Refuses to Extradite Cleric Gulen - FM

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned on Monday that relations between the United States and Turkey could deteriorate over the extradition of opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara suspects to be the mastermind behind the recent coup attempt.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Cavusoglu said that the US-Turkey ties would be "affected" if the United States did not extradite Gulen, as quoted by the Daily Sabah on the newspaper's Twitter account.

Earlier in the day, Cavusoglu said that Turkey would replace a part of its ambassadors amid the investigation into the recent military coup attempt.

On July 15, the coup attempt took place in Turkey and was suppressed the following day. The Turkish government has accused US-based dissident Gulen and his followers of having played a key role in the coup. Gulen condemned the coup attempt and denied any involvement in it.

On July 17, Gulen said he was not afraid of the extradition to Turkey, which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan requested.

On July 22, US President Barack Obama said that Ankara needed to present evidence that Gulen was involved in the recent coup attempt in Turkey before the United States could begin the extradition process.