Ahead of the visit, Ankara has submitted a formal request for the US to detain Fethullah Gulen, the cleric it blames for organizing a failed coup.
The provisional arrest warrant was requested by Turkey’s Justice Ministry, according to the country's news agency Anadolu, which cited some unidentified ministry sources, "who spoke on condition of anonymity, due to restrictions on speaking to the media."
Gulen’s extradition from a farm in Pennsylvania, where he has been living in self-imposed exile since the late 1990s, has become the core dispute between Turkey and the US, as Washington demands more evidence of the cleric's involvement in the July 15 overthrow attempt.
Commenting on the move, Bulent Turan, Deputy Chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party parliamentary group told Sputnik Turkiye that it will be a "serious exam for the US democracy and justice."
"The extradition of the leaders of terrorist organization is more a political issue than purely legal," the politician told Sputnik.
"I think, the time has come for the US democratic and justice systems to take a serious exam," he added.
"It is a moment of truth for the US. If it values democracy and respects the sovereignty of our country, they should extradite Gulen in timely manner," he said.
"It is to a larger extent a test for the Americans than for us," he further added.
The politician explained that for its part, Turkey did its utmost form the legal point of view to extradite Gulen. However he further reiterated that it is a political issue.
The politician believes that while making the final decision, it is not availability or lack of necessary documents, which will play the key role, but the political benefits from the extradition or the refusal to do so.
"I am absolutely convinced that the US should extradite this terrorist leader to Turkey otherwise it will forever remain a dark spot in the history of America," he finally stated.
