In a crackdown since the abortive coup, more than 76,000 civil servants, judges and security force members have been suspended and almost 5,000 dismissed, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Saturday.
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The coup began late on July 15 in Turkey, when a faction of the Turkish military blocked Istanbul’s Bosphorus Bridge and strafed the headquarters of the Turkish intelligence agency and parliament in the capital.
Gulen denies the accusations, and the U.S. has asked Turkey to provide evidence which Ankara claims it has done sending several documents.
“The US Vice-President shall (…) come to Turkey on August 24 with the US delegation”, said Mr. Yildirim to a group of journalists, according to the website of CNN Turk.
U.S. officials have said that the United States has a formal process for dealing with extradition requests and that Turkey must provide solid evidence of Gulen’s involvement. The United States has said that it must have evidence against Gulen the cleric in order to justify turning him over to Turkey.
The Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETO)/Parallel State Structure (PDY), made up of Gulen’s supporters, is designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara.
Ankara already has asked for the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, whom it accuses of the plot to take down President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the failed coup attempt earlier this summer.
The failed attempt to dislodge Erdogen left 240 people dead.
Gulen is also accused of leading a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.
More than 240 people were killed and almost 2200 injured in the violent coup attempt by Fethullah Terror Organisation (FETO) led by Gülen.
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A foreign ministry spokesman called the remarks from Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human rights, “unacceptable”. Turkish officials say they are confronting an internal threat.
