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US secretary of state to visit Turkey August 21 – Erdogan

Turkey's relations with the US deteriorated after a coup attempt, staged by insurgents on the night to July 16

ANKARA, August 5. /TASS/. US Secretary of State John Kerry will pay a visit to Turkey on August 21, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.

"I think their secretary of state is coming on the 21th (August)," Erdogan said on Friday in a live interview with state-run TRT television.

On Thursday, the CNN Turk TV channel reported that Kerry’s trip to Turkey would take place in late August. However, the US Department of State has not confirmed the information about the prepared visit yet.

Turkey's relations with the US deteriorated after a coup attempt, staged by insurgents on the night to July 16. Ankara said that the opposition member and Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen and his supporters from the "Fetullah’s terrorist organization" were behind the putsch. Turkey forwarded to the United States a request for the extradition of the opposition leader who resides in Pennsylvania since 1999, as well as several dossiers on his offenses.

A group of Turkish military staged an overnight coup attempt on July 15-16. The main clashes occurred in Ankara and Instanbul. A total of 246 people apart from the plotters were killed and more than 2,000 others were injured. Ankara says Fetullah Gulen, an Islamist opposition figure permanently resident in the United States since 1999, and FETO backers were behind it. FETO is an acronym widely used in Turkey in relation to different groups associated with Gulen. Turkey demands his arrest and extradition from the United States.