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

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

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.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
Onur Saggoz/AP
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 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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
In a mass detention in Ankara, dozens of detainees are forced to kneel, partially stripped.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
CNN
In a mass detention in Ankara, dozens of detainees are forced to kneel, partially stripped.
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
Chris McGrath/Getty Images
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.
Damaged vehicles are abundant outside the presidential palace in Ankara on July 16.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
Xinhua/Sipa
Damaged vehicles are abundant outside the presidential palace in Ankara on July 16.
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
Selcuk Samiloglu/AP
People kick and beat a Turkish soldier suspected in the attempted coup on Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge on July 16.
Women react after people took over a military position on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul.
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.
People gather outside the Turkish Parliament in Ankara during an extraordinary session after the failed coup attempt.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images
People gather outside the Turkish Parliament in Ankara during an extraordinary session after the failed coup attempt.
Turkey Prime Minister Binali Yildirim addresses the Turkish Parliament after the failed coup attempt.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
Erhan Ortac/Getty Images
Turkey Prime Minister Binali Yildirim addresses the Turkish Parliament after the failed coup attempt.
A protester rests on a bench as smoke billows from the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
Ali Unal/AP
A protester rests on a bench as smoke billows from the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara.
People stand under a huge Turkish flag during a march around Kizilay Square in Ankara in reaction to the attempted coup.
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.
Members of the Turkish military surrender on Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge on after a failed coup attempt.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
Gokhan Tan/Getty Images
Members of the Turkish military surrender on Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge on after a failed coup attempt.
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
Emrah Gurel/AP
People protesting against the coup wave a Turkish flag on top of a monument in Istanbul's Taksim Square.
Clothes and weapons belonging to soldiers involved in the coup attempt are scattered on Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
Gokhan Tan/Getty Images
Clothes and weapons belonging to soldiers involved in the coup attempt are scattered on Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul.
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
Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images
A Turkish police officer in Istanbul embraces a man on a tank in the wake of the violence overnight.
Smoke billows from the direction of the Presidential Palace in Ankara on July 16.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
Burhan Ozbilici/AP
Smoke billows from the direction of the Presidential Palace in Ankara on July 16.
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
Gokhan Sahin/Getty Images
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.
Turkish people wave national flags from a car in Istanbul.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
Emrah Gurel/AP
Turkish people wave national flags from a car in Istanbul.
People gather around a car damaged by a tank in Kizilay Square early on July 16.
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.
People take to the streets near the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge during clashes with military forces in Istanbul.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
GURCAN OZTURK/AFP/Getty Images
People take to the streets near the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge during clashes with military forces in Istanbul.
People escape the clashes in Ankara early Saturday.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
Erhan Ortac/Getty Images
People escape the clashes in Ankara early Saturday.
Tanks move into position as Turkish citizens attempt to stop them in Ankara.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
AP
Tanks move into position as Turkish citizens attempt to stop them in Ankara.
Citizens in Sivas rush to the streets during the chaotic coup attempt.
Photos: Failed military coup in Turkey
Serhat Cagdas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Citizens in Sivas rush to the streets during the chaotic coup attempt.