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Turkey Submitting Request to US for Fethullah Gulen’s Arrest, Turkish Media Reports

U.S. based cleric Fethullah Gulen at his home in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. July 29, 2016.

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Washington has said it would need evidence of the cleric’s involvement, and says the regular extradition process must be allowed to take its course.

In another development, reported by Reuters, the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office sent a letter to the United States authorities asking for the detention of Mr Gulen.

Turkey nearly immediately increased pressure for the extradition from the USA of Mr Gulen, a former ally of Mr Erdogan who runs an influential network of worldwide schools outside Turkey.

Turkey is criticizing a top United Nations human rights official for saying Ankara should stem its “thirst for revenge” after a failed coup attempt.

On Saturday, Yildirim appeared to rule out any compromise on the demand for Gulen to face trial in Turkey.

“Whether or not the anti-Americanism in Turkey will continue is also dependant on this”, Mr Yildirim added. But Turkey has not said clearly whether it has filed a formal extradition request.

Announcing a visit to Turkey by US Vice-President Joe Biden, he again urged the US to extradite Mr Gulen.

Speaking to media at Çankaya Palace in Ankara on Saturday, Yıldırım also confirmed US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit sometime in October.

Yildirim said he believed there would be a “positive outcome” with Washington on the extradition, Anadolu said.

The Istanbul chief prosecutor wrote to US authorities asking for Gulen’s detention, CNN Turk said.

Relations between the United States and Turkey have become tense lately.

“If a tenth of the accusations against me are established, I pledge to return to Turkey and serve the heaviest sentence”, he said in an opinion piece in French daily Le Monde.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein called on Ankara this week to uphold the rights of detainees held since the abortive July 15 putsch.

Yildirim said more than 76,000 officials had been suspended and almost 5,000 dismissed following the coup, including 3,000 soldiers as well as judges and civil servants.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan waves to the crowd during a massive rally in Istanbul last weekend.

It’s expected a Turkish extradition request for US-based cleric Fettulah Gulen, who Ankara accuses of planning the coup, to arise during the stop. He will also participate in bilateral meetings with President Raimonds Vējonis and Prime Minister Māris Kučinskis of Latvia.

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“Until the last three years, staff positions within the state were presented to them openly with the support and encouragement of the AKP”.

Istanbul prosecutor calls for US to detain Gulen