ISTANBUL �� The refusal so far by the United States failure to extradite Fethullah Gulen, the Islamic cleric blamed by Turkish authorities for the failed military coup last month, is "destroying" Turkish-American relationships, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said as a visit by Vice President Joe Biden nears.
"Nothing is the same after July 15," Yildirim said Saturday in Istanbul. "America knows this, and we know they know it." He described U.S.-Turkey relations as "so-so."
Biden is scheduled to visit NATO ally Turkey Tuesday, a diplomatic move that follows Turkish officials' repeated requests for extradition or deportation of Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania. The visit aims to improve relations and discuss developments in neighboring Syria, Yildirim said.
Turkey has jailed more than 20,000 people and removed almost 80,000 from public duty after the coup attempt, Yildirim said this past week. More than 200 people were killed and thousands were wounded during the revolt, as troops fired on civilian protesters and clashed with police forces in Istanbul and Ankara, the capital. The government declared a three-month state of emergency afterward.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also repeatedly urged the U.S. to send Gulen to Turkey. A day after the coup attempt, he said the U.S. should do "what is necessary" if it's a true partner.
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