US gives 'positive signals'

Turkey said yesterday it has received "positive signals" from the United States over its requests to extradite Pennsylvania-based preacher Fethullah Gulen whom Ankara accuses of ordering last month's attempted coup.

"We have started to receive some positive signals on the calls we have made" for Gulen's extradition, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara, saying further documents relating to the case for his deportation were being drawn up to send to Washington.

Gulen is accused of ordering the July 15 coup during which a group within the military tried to remove President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from power. He strongly denies the claim.

Since then, Turkey has sent several documents to the United States which Ankara claims proves that Gulen was involved. "Everyone in the world knows who is behind this coup attempt," Cavusoglu said. Last week, an arrest warrant was issued in Turkey for Gulen.

The minister said Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden expressed their intention to come to Turkey but would not confirm previous comments made by Ankara that Kerry would visit on August 24, reports AFP.

Cavusoglu also said yesterday Turkey is seeking the extradition of 32 diplomats who went on the run after they were recalled by Ankara as part of investigations into last month's failed coup attempt.

Speaking at a news conference in Ankara with his Iranian counterpart, he said a total of 208 Turkish diplomats had been recalled as part of the coup investigation, but 32 of them had fled to other countries, reports Reuters.

"We have been in contact with the countries where they fled and are working on their extradition," he said.

Three military attaches have also gone on the run, including two who fled from Greece to Italy, and another who fled Bosnia, the minister said, without specifying where the third attache had gone.

Two Turkish generals based in Afghanistan who travelled to Dubai and another attache who was working in Saudi Arabia have all already been sent back to Turkey.