The official said the Turks had not yet provided extradition requests related to Gulen’s alleged involvement with the coup attempt on July 15, nor provided evidence of his connection to it.
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Erdogan and U.S. Vice President Biden held a press conference in Ankara.
The government has cracked down on suspected Gulen followers, detaining more than 40,000 people and formally arresting around half of them.
The fallout has left US-Turkish relations at their most fragile point in decades.
He added that the United States has “no, no, no, no interest whatsoever in protecting anyone who has done harm to an ally”.
“We have no. interest whatsoever in protecting anyone who has done harm to an ally”.
Although the USA is also fully aware of this fact, it still insists that since there are no other ground forces they can rely on in the fight against ISIL, they will continue to train and back the YPG, much to the frustration of Turkey.
“The frank statements by the vice-president are very important to us”, Yildirim said.
The two countries are tied by shared security concerns, common values and common threats, Biden said, expressing support for bringing coup perpetrators to justice.
Biden said he regretted not being able to travel to Turkey sooner to show solidarity with the Turkish people and the Turkish government.
“If the process can be sped up for (Gulen) to be returned to our country in order to be punished, if our cooperation in this regard continues to grow, then the Turkish people’s sorrow, its disappointment in this regard will quickly give way to positive sentiments”, Yildirim said.
But he added that Ankara needed to produce more if it was going to ensure the extradition of Gulen.
“How long it will take will depend on how much evidence is able to be presented. Thus far, until yesterday, there has been no evidence presented about the coup”.
“The United States of America did not have any foreknowledge of what befell you on the 15th”, Biden said.
Biden said that the prime minister, the foreign minister and others had made it clear they would adhere to constitutional principles and that the rule of law would prevail.
Biden arrived in Ankara just hours after Turkish forces, supported by USA air strikes, launched a military offensive against Islamic State (IS) militants in northern Syria.
“Can you imagine us being happy with another military state [in Turkey]?” We did not get on so well with your previous military states. “So what motive could we possibly have?” he added.
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Erdogan, on vacation the night of the coup attempt, says he narrowly escaped being captured before government forces loyal to Ankara repelled dissidents looking to overthrow him.
