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 Damaged vehicles are seen outside the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, July 16, 2016. Turkey's prime minister said on Saturday that at least 161 people were killed and 1,440 wounded in the coup attempt that swept the country on Friday night but was foiled by Saturday morning. (Xinhua/Zou Le) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday reiterated a call for his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama to hand over the leader of an opposition movement accused of being behind the coup attempt in Turkey. A total of 265 people were killed in the coup attempt. "Please meet our request if we are strategic partners," Erdogan said in remarks delivered in Istanbul. The Turkish leader has blamed the movement led by Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish Islamic scholar living in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, for the unsuccessful coup that started on Friday night. "I asked you previously either to deport him or surrender him to Turkey," Erdogan said, referring to Obama. "I told you that he is considering the coup d'etat, but you didn't listen." The Turkish leader's audience chanted, demanding "the execution of Fethullah." Ankara has been accusing the Gulen Movement of running a parallel state and trying to topple the Turkish government. As many as 2,839 Turkish troops are now detained over suspected involvement in the failed coup, but Erdogan stated that "The Turkish army does not belong to the parallel structure." The president urged his audience to shun schools run by the Gulen Movement for their children. Erdogan's extradition request is expected to further heighten tensions between Anraka and Washington, as the NATO allies have long been in dispute over the treatment of Kurds in Syria. At least 265 people were killed. An official said 161 of them were mostly civilians and police officers, while the remaining 104 were coup supporters. |
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