Turkish Minister Blames US Authorities for Organizing Coup Attempt

Turkish Labor Minister Süleyman Soylu claimed that Washington is behind the attempted coup in Turkey.

"The US is behind the coup attempt. A few journals that are published there [in the US] have been conducting activities for several months. For many months we have sent requests to the US concerning Fethullah Gulen. The US must extradite him," he said.

Late on Friday, Turkish authorities said that an attempted coup took place in the country. Erdogan urged Turkish citizens to take to streets, stating that the coup attempt was carried out by a small group within the military. Later, Erdogan and other officials have blamed opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen staying in self-imposed exile in the United States and his supporters for the coup attempt. Gulen himself denied the allegations.

The coup attempt was reportedly suppressed by early Saturday, with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim stating that all coup supporters have been detained and the country is returning to normal life. Over 180 were killed and 1,470 were injured during the events, while nearly 3,000 people have been detained, according to the prime minister.

Earlier in the day, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday requested his US counterpart Barack Obama to extradite Turkish opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has been reportedly linked to the coup attempt.