US Justice Dept. to Consider Gulen Extradition if Turkey Files Request

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Turkish officials have accused Gulen, who is a US permanent resident, of orchestrating a failed coup on Friday and called on the United States to extradite him to Turkey.

"While we do not discuss extraditions publicly, if Turkey does decide to submit an extradition request for Mr. Gulen, it will be considered under the terms of the US-Turkey extradition agreement, like all other extradition requests," the spokesperson told Sputnik.

Late on Friday, Turkish authorities said that an attempted coup took place in the country. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other officials have blamed Gulen staying in self-imposed exile in the United States and his supporters for the coup attempt and called on his US counterpart Barack Obama to extradite the cleric, while speaking to a crowd of his supporters.

The coup attempt was suppressed by early Saturday, with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim stating that all coup supporters were identified and would be apprehended as the country was returning to normal life. Over 290 people were killed and hundreds were injured during the events, while nearly 6,000 people have already been detained.