Prime Minister Binali Yildirim accused Washington of double standards in its fight against terrorism and said the justice ministry sent a dossier to U.S. authorities on Mr Gulen, whose religious movement blends conservative, Islamic values with a pro-Western outlook and who has a network of supporters within Turkey.
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Turkey has sacked nearly 9,000 officials in its relentless crackdown against suspected coup plotters, authorities have said, as the former air force chief denied masterminding the weekend’s failed putsch.
Turkey has said it is putting together an extradition request for the cleric.
“It is already clear”, Yildirim said.
The Turkish government have demanded the United States extradites the Pennsylvania-based Fethullah Gulen whom it accuses of orchestrating the attempted takeover.
Erdogan raised the idea of reinstating the death penalty in Turkey for use against the coup plotters.
The coup attempt, which was launched late Friday night in Turkey, was eventually crushed by Turkish forces loyal to Erdogan.
Turkey’s religious directorate issued a statement on Tuesday, saying it would not offer religious funerary services, including funeral prayers, for soldiers involved in the failed coup attempt, except for those who had been “forcibly dragged” into the military actions attempting to overthrow the government. Washington says it is prepared to extradite him but only if Turkey provides evidence linking him to crime.
The group of soldiers who attempted to topple the Turkish government last week are no different to the jihadist militant group Islamic State (ISIS), Turkey’s Foreign Minister said at a pro-government rally in Ankara on Monday.
Yildirim responded on Tuesday: “I would like to ask my American friends: Did you look for evidence when demanding the terrorists who carried out the September 11 [2001] attacks?”
Even if an extradition request were formally submitted and approved, lawyers in the United States could argue that risks to his safety should prevent him being returned.
He also said a debate around restoring the death penalty was “deeply worrying”. The Turkish military has been regularly hitting suspected PKK hideouts and position in Iraq since a year ago, but Wednesday’s strikes were the first since the July 15 botched takeover attempt by a faction within the armed forces, in which several F-16 pilots were involved.
The BBC’s Nick Thorpe in Ankara says that the meeting will be the president’s first chance since the coup attempt to sit and talk in person with all key members of the government and armed forces.
Mr Erdogan and other officials have suggested bringing back the death penalty as a punishment, but EU officials have warned it would end Turkey’s hopes of joining the union.
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UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein also called for independent observers to visit places of detention in Turkey to check on conditions, and for detainees to have access to lawyers and their families.
