Joe Biden to visit Turkey: Exiled cleric will be ‘top of agenda’

By Sheena McKenzie, CNN
3 minute read
Updated 6:07 PM EDT, Sat August 20, 2016
US Vice President Joe Biden will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later this month.
US Vice President Joe Biden will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later this month.
Win McNamee/Getty Images North America/Getty Images

Story highlights

US Vice President Joe Biden will visit Turkey on August 24

Turkey's President says relations between the countries are "so-so" following coup attempt

CNN  — 

When US Vice President Joe Biden visits Turkey on August 24, he’ll no doubt have plenty to discuss with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

One of the top items on the agenda will likely be Fethullah Gulen, the US-based cleric Erdogan accuses of planning an attempted military coup in July.

Erdogan has demanded that the United States immediately extradite the 75-year-old imam from his home in Pennsylvania to Turkey.

Gulen has denied the allegations.

Read more: Who is Fethullah Gulen, the man blamed for coup attempt in Turkey?

Police try to stop people from attacking a judge, suspected in the failed coup plot, in Erzurum, Turkey on Tuesday, July 19. Turkey has fired or suspended about 50,000 people as the government intensifies a crackdown following last weekend's failed coup attempt. Teachers, journalists, police and judges have been affected.
Police try to stop people from attacking a judge, suspected in the failed coup plot, in Erzurum, Turkey on Tuesday, July 19. Turkey has fired or suspended about 50,000 people as the government intensifies a crackdown following last weekend's failed coup attempt. Teachers, journalists, police and judges have been affected.
Onur Saggoz/AP
Police escort Turkish soldiers, accused of taking part in the attempted coup, as they leave a courthouse in Istanbul's Bakirkoy neighborhood on Saturday, July 16.
Police escort Turkish soldiers, accused of taking part in the attempted coup, as they leave a courthouse in Istanbul's Bakirkoy neighborhood on Saturday, July 16.
OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images
Turkish police officers cover the eyes of soldiers as they are transported in a bus from the courthouse in Istanbul on July 16.
Turkish police officers cover the eyes of soldiers as they are transported in a bus from the courthouse in Istanbul on July 16.
OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images
Akin Ozturk, front row, center, a four-star general and former commander of the Turkish air force, is among those in police custody whom President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government has accused of having led the failed coup attempt.
Akin Ozturk, front row, center, a four-star general and former commander of the Turkish air force, is among those in police custody whom President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government has accused of having led the failed coup attempt.
Anadolu Agency