The extradition request was discussed by the US official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity, ahead of a visit to Ankara on August 24 by Vice President Joe Biden.
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Yildirim said in his comments in Elazig that FETO – the government’s name for Gulen’s network – had “handed over its mission” to the PKK. The investigation has led to a sweeping purges of the military, civil service, police and judiciary, with around 80,000 people removed from public duty.
The Turkish government has declared a state of emergency and is cracking down on Gulen’s supporters in the aftermath of the coup attempt, raising concerns among Turkey’s allies and human-rights groups.
Authorities in Turkey have arrested or suspended tens of thousands of police, troops, officials, judges and civil servants due to their alleged links to Gulen’s movement.
The failed coup attempt killed at least 290 people, including more than 100 “coup plotters”.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombings, but Yildirim said there was no doubt they were carried out by PKK militants, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
Sixty-two university teachers have been arrested during the operation.
Twenty-nine academics have been detained, said the Dogan news agency. Among those facing arrest was the former rector of Konya’s Selcuk University, who Anadolu said was now on the run.
One Turkish official suggested that the Kurdish rebels were exploiting the situation following the failed July 15 coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirum said the attacks Thursday are an indication the PKK, founded in 1978 as a socialist revolutionary organization, is weakening and resorting to suicide bombings.
Ankara has requested the United States to extradite Gulen, who denies the accusations of masterminding the plot, to face charges in Turkey.
Erdogan has vowed to choke off businesses with ties to Gulen, describing his schools, firms and charities as “nests of terrorism”.
Fethullah Gulen, who has lived in voluntary exile in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania since the late 1990s, was initially an ally of Erdogan but the pair fell out over a massive corruption scandal in 2013 that cost the country $100billion.
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Since last month’s unsuccessful coup in Turkey, there’s been much discussion of national unity. Instead, the evidence focuses on alleged plotting and criminal behaviour by Mr Gulen before the coup.
