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.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
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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.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
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.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
Anadolu Agency
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.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
CNN
In a mass detention in Ankara, dozens of detainees are forced to kneel, partially stripped.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
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A man waves a Turkish flag from a car roof during a July 16 march around Kizilay Square in Ankara after the attempted military coup.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
Xinhua/Sipa
Damaged vehicles are abundant outside the presidential palace in Ankara on July 16.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
Selcuk Samiloglu/AP
People kick and beat a Turkish soldier suspected in the attempted coup on Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge on July 16.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images
Women react after people took over a military position on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul.
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People gather outside the Turkish Parliament in Ankara during an extraordinary session after the failed coup attempt.
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Erhan Ortac/Getty Images
Turkey Prime Minister Binali Yildirim addresses the Turkish Parliament after the failed coup attempt.
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Ali Unal/AP
A protester rests on a bench as smoke billows from the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
Chris McGrath/Getty Images
People stand under a huge Turkish flag during a march around Kizilay Square in Ankara in reaction to the attempted coup.
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Members of the Turkish military surrender on Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge on after a failed coup attempt.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
Emrah Gurel/AP
People protesting against the coup wave a Turkish flag on top of a monument in Istanbul's Taksim Square.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
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Clothes and weapons belonging to soldiers involved in the coup attempt are scattered on Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
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A Turkish police officer in Istanbul embraces a man on a tank in the wake of the violence overnight.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
Burhan Ozbilici/AP
Smoke billows from the direction of the Presidential Palace in Ankara on July 16.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
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People gather on top of a Turkish military tank in Ankara in the morning after the coup attempt. National intelligence officials said the coup was put down and that the government remains in control.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
Emrah Gurel/AP
Turkish people wave national flags from a car in Istanbul.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
Burhan Ozbilici/AP
People gather around a car damaged by a tank in Kizilay Square early on July 16.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
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People take to the streets near the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge during clashes with military forces in Istanbul.
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Erhan Ortac/Getty Images
People escape the clashes in Ankara early Saturday.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
AP
Tanks move into position as Turkish citizens attempt to stop them in Ankara.
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Serhat Cagdas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Citizens in Sivas rush to the streets during the chaotic coup attempt.
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A man approaches Turkish military with his hands up at the entrance to the partially closed Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
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A wounded man is given medical care at the entrance to the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul after clashes with Turkish military.
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People react in front of the Justice and Development Party's headquarters in Karabuk.
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Emrah Gurel/AP
Soldiers secure an area as supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul's Taksim Square.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
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Turkish military members make their way through the streets of Istanbul.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
Emrah Gurel/AP
Supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in front of soldiers in Istanbul's Taksim Square.
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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks on CNN Turk via a FaceTime call in Istanbul after members of the country's military attempted to overthrow the government.
At a news conference in Istanbul Saturday, the Turkish President said that the group Gulen leads – which the Turkish government says is a terror group – will be “the number one item on the agenda” during Biden’s visit.
A delegation of officials from the State Department and Justice Department also will travel to Turkey to consult with government officials there about Turkey’s investigation into Gulen, a State Department spokesperson said Saturday.
Amid these tensions, the US must also rely on Turkey as a partner in NATO and for its agreement to allow the US military to use a base in Turkey to stage its air missions to fight ISIS in Syria.
On GPS: Who is behind the attempted coup in Turkey?
Senior White House officials told CNN they were working in “lock-step” with counterparts in Turkey to ensure all evidence is received in the Gulen case.
However, they added, Gulen’s extradition case will be determined in court – not by the US President or vice president.
“What I said to President Erdogan is the same thing I would say to you and anybody else who asks, which is that we have a process here in the United States for dealing with extradition requests made by foreign governments, and it’s governed by treaties and by laws, and it’s not a decision that I make,” US President Barack Obama has previously said.
During his visit to Turkey, Vice President Biden will also emphasize the widespread support for upholding NATO, amid international concerns about what a Trump presidency could mean for the organization, a senior White House official told CNN.
The Republican presidential nominee has repeatedly made the case that most of NATO’s 28-member countries are not making the requisite financial contributions for their common defense, and he’s said in the past that “the US must be prepared to let these countries defend themselves.”
Following the recent face-to-face meeting between Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, senior White House officials told CNN they were “encouraged” that the two countries are “mending fences” after November’s fly over incident.
