Fetullah Gulen says will return to Turkey if US backs extradition

US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen is ready to return to Turkey if Washington approves Ankara's request for his extradition over the failed July coup, he told German broadcaster ZDF on Friday, Deccan Chronicle reports.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Gulen of ordering the failed putsch and Ankara wants Washington to arrest the Islamic cleric and deliver him to Turkish authorities.

"If the United States says yes, then I will go, it's not a problem. Then I will spend the rest of my days tormented (by the government) and so I will reach God as a pure man," Gulen said.

The preacher, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, has denied any involvement in the putsch.

Calling for an international probe into the accusation, Gulen told ZDF that he would be ready to answer to such an investigation.

"An international organisation should investigate the case. If their accusations stand, then I will accept what they want. But they have neither succeeded in showing any concrete proof nor given an answer to my suggestion. Therefore, these are all just mere assertions," he said.