The State Department confirmed that Turkey has formally requested the extradition of a cleric living in Pennsylvania but said the request is unrelated to the failed coup that many in Turkey are pinning on him.
“I wouldn’t characterize the request as relating to the coup attempt,” spokesman Mark Toner said told reporters at a briefing Tuesday. “In fact, they don’t relate to the 2016 attempted coup.”
Toner did not elaborate on the grounds for the request.
{mosads}Earlier Tuesday, officials from the State and Justice departments met with officials from Turkey’s justice ministry in Ankara to discuss the extradition request.
Vice President Biden is scheduled to visit Turkey this week, where he is expected to try to smooth over relations that have been rocky since last month’s coup attempt.
The Turkish government blames Fethullah Gülen, a Muslim cleric who has lived in Pennsylvania since 1999 under self-imposed exile from Turkey, for organizing the failed coup.
Gülen has repeatedly denied any involvement.
Toner said that Turkey, after initially sending documents that did not constitute an extradition request, later submitted more formal documents.
“We’re now in the stage where we’re considering the merits of the request,” he said.
Turkey has pressed the United States to extradite Gülen quickly. But U.S. officials have said they need hard evidence of Gülen’s involvement in the coup attempt and that his due process rights need to be respected.
Relations with the NATO ally have been strained as the United States expresses concern about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s crackdown in response to the attempted coup. Tens of thousands members of the military and civil servants have been arrested or dismissed from their jobs.
Turkish media have also circulated unfounded rumors of U.S. involvement in the failed coup, stoking anti-American sentiment.
Toner said he did not have a summary of Tuesday’s meeting.
“We offered to send these teams to cooperate with Turkish officials in the aftermath of the coup,” he said.
According to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency, which cited unnamed Turkish officials, Tuesday’s meeting was expected to involve officials from Turkey’s justice ministry sharing information from four files on Gülen.