Turks in US begin White House petition to extradite Gulen

Turks living in the US on Sunday began an online petition on the official White House website that demands President Barack Obama to extradite Fethullah Gulen to Turkey.

"I would like our government to stop providing a safe haven to Fethullah Gulen and I want him delivered to Turkey," the petition's headline reads.

"Please help me to convince our president and our government that we as the United States should work with democratically elected authorities & governments."

The petition has already received over 35,000 signatures and needs to reach 100,000 by August 16 in order to garner an official response.

Turkey alleges that the Fetullah Terrorist Organisation (FETO) attempted to overthrow the government in Ankara in a series of moves organised by followers of the US-based preacher who is accused of a long-running campaign to topple the government through supporters within Turkey, particularly in the military, police, and judiciary that form what the Turkish government calls a "parallel state".

Since the coup attempt Friday, Turkey has said it would officially engage the US to extradite Gulen.

In response, the US said it would evaluate any official demand received from the Turkish government.

Click here to see the petititon.