Turkey requests extradition of Fethullah Gülen but not for coup attempt, says US

• State Department did not specify what the Turkish cleric was being sought for
• Joe Biden expected to meet Erdoğan on Wednesday in wake of foiled plot

Julian Borger in Washington
Wednesday 24 August 2016 07.37 BST

The US has confirmed it has received a formal extradition request from Ankara for the Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, but not over the July coup attempt the Turkish authorities has accused Gülen of orchestrating.

The state department’s announcement came after US officials met their Turkish counterparts in Ankara to discuss Gülen, who has lived in rural Pennsylvania for the past 17 years in self-imposed exile. Vice-president Joe Biden is expected in the Turkish capital on Wednesday to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

According to the White House, Biden will emphasise “ongoing strong support” for Turkish democracy in the wake of the foiled coup by a segment of the armed forces, but the Turkish leader is expected to focus his attention on the Muslim cleric, who was once his ally but whose presence in the US has now become a serious irritant in relations between Washington and Ankara.

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Toner added that the extradition request was not related to the 15 July attempted coup, but was for other issues for which Gülen was being sought by authorities in Ankara. He did not specify what those issues were.

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