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WASHINGTON, July 18 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government said Monday it has not yet received a request from Turkey for extraditing the U.S.-based Turkish cleric, Fethullah Gulen, who was blamed by Ankara for plotting a failed military coup.
Speaking at a daily briefing, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that "we've not yet received an extradition request from the Turkish government as it relates to Mr. Gulen."
Earnest added that if such request is received, the U.S. "will evaluate that request based on the Extradition Treaty that was signed by the United States and Turkey more than 30 years ago."
After receiving the request, the U.S. will take two steps as follows: first, the request would be evaluated to determine whether or not it was related to crimes that are covered by the Extradition Treaty; second, there would be an evaluation made jointly by the State Department and Justice Department to determine whether or not the evidentiary standard in the treaty is met, Earnest elaborated.
At the same time, Earnest said the suggestion that the U.S. is harboring Gulen "is factually incorrect."
He revealed that U.S. President Barack Obama will make a phone call to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the U.S.-Turkey ties in the wake of the failed coup in Turkey.
Obama was expected to "renew his call for restraint and urge everyone in Turkey to respect that country's democratic institutions," Earnest said.
"And that's certainly consistent with our forceful support for the democratically elected civilian government of Turkey," he said.
Commenting on the recent massive arrests of suspected coup plotters made in Turkey, Earnest reiterated that the Turkish government should exercise restraint, demonstrate a commitment to due process and a continued commitment to the values that are enshrined in Turkey's Constitution.
More than 290 people were killed Friday in a failed military coup in Turkey, which has strained Ankara's ties with the U.S. amid Turkey's accusations that the U.S. is harboring Gulen, who is blamed by the Turkish government for plotting the coup attempt.
Turkey and the U.S. are NATO allies in fighting terrorism, but their relations had already become tricky before the coup attempt after Turkey tried to repair its relationship with Russia. U.S. lawmakers also expressed deep concern about Erdogan government's clampdown on the opposition and on free journalism.
Turkey cut the power supply to and closed the airspace of the Incirlik Air Base after the Friday coup attempt, forcing the U.S.-led coalition to temporarily halt its flight missions from the base to launch airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) terrorists in Syria and Iraq.
Although the airspace of the base was reopened for resuming the counter-IS strikes on Sunday, the commercial power supply was still not restored as of Monday, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told a press briefing. Enditem
