During a briefing for journalists, Binali Yildirim added that US Vice President Joe Biden would visit Turkey on 24 August, as tensions continue to mount over US criticism of the post-coup crackdown by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government.
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More than 35,000 people have been imprisoned, of whom 17,000 have been placed under official arrest, and tens of thousands more deferred since the July 15 coup, which establishments guilt on US -based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen and his factions.
Turkish police yesterday raided three major courts in Istanbul in search of more than 170 suspects wanted over last month’s attempted coup, reports said. Gulen has denied involvement in the violent coup attempt.
Turkish officials say they have handed over documents to USA officials concerning Gulen.
Ankara has accused US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen of orchestrating the coup and is seeking his extradition.
Yildirim told reporters in Ankara his government has not backed down from demands the USA government hand over Fethullah Gulen, a former Erdogan ally who lives in Pennsylvania and runs a series of influential Muslim schools outside Turkey.
The U.S., however, said it is still reviewing the request’s formality. The football is believed to be residing in the United States.
Erdogan’s critics say he could use the purge to crack down broadly on dissent.
“If a tenth of the accusations against me are established, I pledge to return to Turkey and serve the heaviest sentence”, he said in an opinion piece in French daily Le Monde.
The PM said a total of 81,494 people including judges, soldiers and civil servants have either been suspended or sacked since the July 15 coup attempt.
A foreign ministry spokesman called the remarks from Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human rights, “unacceptable”.
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Since the July 15, around 26,000 people have been detained or arrested, mostly from the military, on suspicion of being involved in the failed putsch.
