Erdogan: US has to choose

The state-run Anadolu news agency reported that Erdogan had said the US had to choose between its relationship with Turkey and Fethullah Gulen, a former Erdogan ally who has been in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania for decades.

Turkey has requested his extradition, while Gulen denied involvement in the coup.

While ties with Washington threaten to cool over the Gulen issue, the Turkish leader this week visited Moscow, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the first sign of rapprochement between the two leaders since Turkey shot down a Russian jet nine months ago.

"Sooner or later the US will make a choice. Either Turkey or FETO," Erdogan said, in reference to the movement headed by Gulen.

Turkey considers the cleric and his followers terrorists. Last weekend, at a unity rally, he likened the coup plotters to "terrorists wearing military uniforms."

During that rally, he said he would sign a reintroduction of the death penalty into law if it was approved by parliament. Such a move would likely end Turkey's ambitions to join the European Union.

He likened Gulen's followers to ISIS, which has repeatedly bombed targets within Turkey, and the Kurdish separatist movement PKK, which is listed as a terror organization by the US.

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