Gulen has repeatedly denied involvement.
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Ankara is already pressing Washington to extradite US -based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who it accuses of orchestrating the coup.
Over 13,000 people have been detained in connection with the coup.
Addressing a mass crowd in front of the Presidential Palace in Ankara, President Erdogan said United States needs to choose either Gulen or Turkey.
The asylum application comes at a critical juncture when the Washington is being asked to extradite Fethullah Gulen, a Pennsylvania-based Muslim cleric whom Turkey accuses of masterminding the coup.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave the United States “an ultimatum”, demanding the extradition of the cleric he believes is behind the failed July 15 coup attempt.
It comes at a hard moment in relations between the two North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies as Turkey is seeking the extradition from the U.S. of the cleric accused of masterminding the coup, Fethullah Gulen. “The United States can no longer harbor this oppressor, this charlatan and will send him back”. The daily gatherings, which have attracted hundreds of thousands wishing to show their opposition to the foiled July 15 coup, culminated Sunday in an Istanbul rally that 5 million people are thought have attended, according to local officials.
The scope of the crackdown on the movement has raised alarm in European countries and among human rights groups, which have urged restraint. “He expressed support for the elected government of Turkey and respect for the courage of the Turkish people”, said Lungescu. “We will impose the heaviest penalty”, said Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, who took the stage late Wednesday to address the crowd before Erdogan.
Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Erdogan’s call was directed at businesses that had provided financial support to the group.
Business owners in Berlin, the populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the southwestern Baden-Württemberg told Die Zeit that they had been yelled at on the streets and called traitors to the homeland and terrorists. They engaged in extortion.
Kalin said Erdogan’s call was meant to ensure that the business world “was put on alert” against Gulen’s movement.
According to CBC News, foreign affairs analyst Tony Brenton said that the West should not be surprised with the steps taken by the two countries as worldwide relations remain to be “a pretty pragmatic business”.
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“There is an illegal organization and authorities are taking measures within the business world, the military, the police and the judiciary so that (coup attempt) can not happen again”, Kalin said.
