US officials to visit Turkey to discuss accusations against Gulen
US Justice and State Department officials will fly to Turkey to investigate accusations against cleric Fethullah Gulen that Ankara says masterminded an attempted military coup in the country in July.
"US officials, including representatives of the Departments of Justice and State, have offered to consult with the Turkish government," an anonymous Justice Department official told Reuters on Saturday.
"We can confirm that a delegation (with) representatives of the Department of Justice and State will visit Turkey," the official added.
The official, however, declined to mention a date for the scheduled meeting.
The Turkish government accuses Gulen of orchestrating the failed coup of July 15 in Turkey, but the Pennsylvania-based preacher denies the allegation.
In July, Ankara asked the US government to extradite Gulen and has so far sent “eighty-five boxes of files” to Washington to prove the allegation of his involvement.
The US, however, has refused to extradite him, saying it needs evidence of his involvement in the abortive coup.
"We need to see genuine evidence that withstands the standard of scrutiny that exists in many countries' system of law with respect to the issue of extradition," Secretary of State John Kerry said following Turkey's extradition request.
"If it meets that standard, there's nothing — there's no interest we have in standing in the way of appropriately honoring the treaty that we have with Turkey."
At least 246 people were killed and more than 2,100 others sustained injuries when an army faction, using hijacked helicopters and tanks, clashed with government troops and people on the streets of Ankara and Istanbul in an attempt to overthrow Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
After the coup, over 40,000 people were detained in connection with the abortive coup, of whom 20,355 were formally arrested.
A number of 79,900 people were removed from public duty in the military, police, civil service and judiciary.
Several thousand companies and institutions suspected of having financed Gulen were also closed by the government.
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