US had 'no foreknowledge of Turkey coup bid'

By Satuk Bugra Kutlugun

ANKARA (AA) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday pledged to do everything to help bring those behind the July 15 coup attempt to justice.

Speaking during a day-long visit to Turkish capital Ankara, he said U.S. officials were working alongside the Turkish counterparts on the extradition of Fetullah Gulen, the head of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization said to be behind the defeated coup.

“Our legal experts are working right now with their Turkish counterparts on the production of an evaluation of material and evidence that needs to be supplied to an American court to meet the requirements under our law in the extradition treaty to extradite Gulen,” Biden said during a news conference with Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.

He had earlier toured the parts of the parliament building damaged by bombs during the coup attempt and addressed deputies in the assembly chamber.

He added: “We have no, no, no interest whatsoever in protecting anymore who has done harm to an ally but we need to meet the legal standard requirement under our law.”

Americans understood the feelings of the Turkish people in the wake of the attempted coup, which resulted in at least 240 deaths, but Biden warned that President Barack Obama did not have the power to extradite anyone.

“Only an American court can do that,” he said.

Responding to repeated claims in some Turkish media outlets following the coup attempt that the U.S. had been complicit, Biden reiterated that Washington “did not have any foreknowledge of the events”.

He added: “We did not have prior knowledge, we did not support and immediately condemned the coup. You have no greater friend than the United States of America.”

A Turkish request to extradite Gulen, who is accused of leading a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, is being reviewed by Washington.