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Biden to visit Turkey following coup attempt

Vice President Joe Biden will visit Turkey later this month, the White House announced Friday.

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The accused are suspected of links to the US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen who Ankara blames for the June 15 failed putsch against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Police teams on Monday apprehended 136 personnel in operations conducted at three Istanbul courthouses as part of an investigation into the July 15 abortive coup.

Since then, ties between the two countries have become strained amid differences in the fight against ISIS and the accusations lobbed over Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania and denies any involvement in the coup.

Turkish bureaucrats say they have offered over pamphlets to USA officials concerning Gulen.

-Turkish relations is dependent on the United States cooperating with their request to extradite Gulen. Yildirim on Saturday said that the United States had improved its attitude on the issue of Gulen’s extradition, but he did not elaborate on this.

The request has been submitted to Turkey’s Justice Ministry on Saturday for it to be relayed to US authorities.

Secretary of State John Kerry is due in October, broadcaster CNN Turk reported.

The failed attempt to dislodge Erdogen left 240 people dead. Government officlas have also bitterly criticized the United States for “showing no eagerness” to seize the extradition request.

The Istanbul chief prosecutor sent a letter to US authorities asking for Gulen’s detention, CNN Turk said. Tens of thousands more have been suspended from their jobs.

That response has infuriated Ankara, which accuses the West of showing more concern about the purges than the coup itself.

Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic, in a statement, said the comments by Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein were unacceptable.

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The scope of the crackdown now appears to be even worrying some in the ruling party. Turkish officials say they are confronting an internal threat.

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