Exiled Turkish cleric dismisses Turkish court's arrest warrant

Exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen on Thursday dismissed an arrest warrant issued against him by a Turkish court, while denying his role in the recent failed military coup.

The warrant changes neither his status nor his views, Gulen was quoted by U.S. media as saying in a statement after a court in Istanbul issued the warrant for allegedly "giving instructions" for the July 15 coup.

"It is well-documented that the Turkish court system is without judicial independence, so this warrant is yet another example of (Turkish) President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan's drive for authoritarianism and away from democracy," Gulen said.

Erdogan has repeatedly accused Gulen, a Muslim cleric living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, of plotting the July 15 coup, which left at least 290 people dead, including more than 100 "coup plotters."

The Turkish government has already sent documents to the United States requesting the extradition of Gulen, leader of the Gulen Movement.

U.S. State Department Spokesman Mark Toner told a news briefing Thursday that the U.S. government is still studying those documents to determine whether they constitute a formal extradition request.

Turkey-U.S. ties were strained by the failed coup amid Turkey's indication of U.S. involvement in it.

But the U.S. government has denied any role in the coup and repeatedly stated that it supports the elected civilian government in Turkey, while vowing to continue cooperation with the NATO ally in areas such as the fight against terrorism. Endi