Turkey urges US to speed up process of extraditing Gulen

If the U.S. speeds up legal process of Gulen extradition, disappointment of Turkish people will be replaced by positive attitude, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Wednesday.

Ankara accuses cleric Gulen of orchestrating the bloody coup attempt from Pennsylvania, where he has been living in self-imposed exile since 1999.

Turkey appreciates that the U.S. legal experts are now working on the process of extraditing Gulen to Turkey, Binali told a joint press conference with visiting U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden in Ankara.

"This shows the matter is being taken seriously by the U.S.," he said.

The Turkish premier stressed that the U.S.-Turkish relations should not be disrupted by the July 15 coup attempt, nor by any other issue.

He said the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and People's Protection Units (YPG), which are considered off-shoot of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), should not spread west of Euphrates, and Turkey and the U.S are on the same page regarding this issue.

He called on the U.S. to review its position on the relation between PYD, YPG and PKK.

He reiterated that Turkey does not accept the existence of a new Kurdish formation on its southern border, which is considered a huge threat to its security.

"The military operations launched in southeastern Turkey and northern Syria are to fight terrorist groups to protect border security," he noted.

For his part, the U.S. vice-president said that Washington has no interest in protecting anyone harming an ally, but legal standards must be met in the process of Gulen extradition.

"We understand the intense feeling Turkey has against Gulen and our legal experts are cooperating with their Turkish counterparts," Biden said.

He stressed that the U.S. had no prior knowledge of Turkish coup and would never support treasonous behavior.

The U.S. official also condemned Saturday's wedding attack in Gaziantep that killed at least 54 people, including 29 children, and the PKK attacks in southeastern Turkey.

He added that Syrian Kurdish forces will lose the U.S. support if they do not retreat to east of Euphrates.

Source : XINHUA