拜登：美将倾听土要引渡居伦的每一件证据

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden says the White House is determined to listen to "every scrap of evidence" Turkey provides before deciding if it will extradite Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Gulen lives in the eastern state of Pennsylvania, and Turkey is demanding his immediate extradition, accusing him of organizing last month\'s failed military coup -- a charge he denies.

Biden met in Ankara Wednesday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He tried to head off Erdogan\'s impatience by explaining that American courts require firm evidence before a suspect is surrendered to another country.

"You can\'t go into the court and say, \'This is a bad guy\'... you have to say \'this is a guy or woman who committed the following explicit crime,\'" Biden said.

He said prosecutors need to show a judge probable cause, and that sometimes courts move slowly. Biden noted that President Barack Obama could be impeached if he orders a foreign national extradited without a proper hearing.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has said any delay in sending Gulen back to Turkey could harm U.S.-Turkish relations.

Biden said he understands Turkey\'s anger, and said the U.S. has no interest in protecting anyone who has done anything to hurt one of its allies.

Turkey has arrested or fired 80,000 government workers, judges and academics it believes are Gulen supporters or were involved in the coup attempt launched by a group of renegade military officers.

居伦现居美国东部的宾夕法尼亚州。土耳其要求美国立即将其引渡回国，指责他组织了上个月的未遂政变，对此居伦予以否认。

拜登星期三在安卡拉会晤了土耳其总统埃尔多安。他设法避开埃尔多安急不可待的要求，解释说美国法庭要求在将一名嫌疑人送交另外一个国家之前必须有确凿的证据。

拜登说：“你不能到法庭上说：这是一个‘坏家伙\'，你必须说：‘这个男人或女人从事了如下明确的犯罪活动\'。”

拜登说，检察官需要向法官表明这么做有合理的理由，有时法庭进展非常缓慢。拜登指出，奥巴马总统如果未经恰当听审，就擅自下令引渡一名外国公民，有可能会受到弹劾。

土耳其总理耶伊尔德勒姆说，任何拖延送交居伦的行为，都有可能损害美土关系。

拜登说，他理解土耳其的愤怒，但表示美国无意保护任何一个从事过伤害其盟国的人。

土耳其逮捕或解雇了8万名政府雇员、法官和学者。它认为，这些人或是居伦的支持者，或参与了由一些反叛军官发动的未遂政变。