Turkish PM: Purge Of 'Terrorists' Not Over

Turkey's Prime Minister has told Sky News that the purge of plotters is not yet over.

In his first interview with a foreign journalist since the attempted coup, Binali Yildrim said that America must hand over the man his government holds responsible for the 15 July uprising.

"The investigation is continuing, there are people who are being searched for. There could be new apprehensions, arrests and detentions ... the process is not completed yet," Mr Yildirim told me.

Turkey is convinced the coup was masterminded by Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish preacher living in self-exile in Pennsylvania.

Mr Gulen denies any involvement.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has personally asked President Barack Obama to extradite him, and Prime Minister Yildirim said it would be damaging if America didn't.

"[We don't] have any intention of breaking any relations but we need to underline that we are determined, and we have indicated this to the US government," he said.

He added: "We shared all the details with them and, from this point on, the task falls on the shoulders of the US government."

Turkey is now under a State of Emergency. The government is considering re-introducing the death penalty.

The Prime Minister wouldn't rule it out when I asked him directly.

He said: "The citizens are coming out on the street for the death penalty to be reintroduced - this is the only voice that we hear in all the squares.

"Turkey is a democratic country, we are governed by democracy and there are requests of the nation, we cannot make this fall on deaf ears.

But the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Junker, has reacted strongly to the possibility, saying Turkey won't be able to join the EU "for some time".

Mr Yildrim told me Turkey would not "pay credit" to those calls, saying: "When Turkey is fighting with such a threat, the fact that they lift their finger and threaten Turkey is not up to them.

"For certain people who have been appointed to certain positions, Turkey will not pay credit [to them]."

Turkey is key to the ongoing fight against Islamic State - US warplanes are based in the country.

The Prime Minister insisted that nothing will change as a result of the attempted coup.

"We need to name this properly - it is not a coup attempt of the Turkish armed forces. There are terrorists in soldiers' uniforms within the Turkish army ... and they have been made ineffective.

"There is no reassurance that we need to give to NATO. Turkey for many years in Iraq and Syria and the region has been providing security for NATO countries.

"For the eastern and southern NATO borders, we are the country that is providing the security so NATO should actually thank us 10 times."

President Erdogan has announced that he will visit Russian president Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg next month.

Relations between the two nations have been low ever since Turkey shot down a Russian jet on the Syrian border last November.

The visit is significant because it signals a thaw between the two countries and it will concern Europe and Washington.

His remarks to Sky News will do little to reassure those concerned.

Mr Yildrim said: "We will see more developed relations and that is what needs to take place, because Turkey is a neighbour to Russia.

"We have ... common interests, a common future."