U.S. President Donald Trump has told his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan that Washington is working on extraditing a U.S.-based Muslim cleric accused of orchestrating a failed Turkish coup in 2016, Turkey's foreign minister said on Sunday.

"In Argentina, Trump told Erdogan they were working on extraditing (Fethullah) Gulen and other people," Mevlut Cavusoglu said, referring to the G20 summit where the leaders met two weeks ago.

Turkey has long sought the extradition of Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed U.S. exile for nearly two decades. A former ally of Erdogan, he is blamed by Turkish authorities for the failed coup when rogue soldiers commandeered tanks and helicopters, attacked parliament and shot unarmed civilians.

Gulen denies any involvement in the failed putsch. Trump said last month he was not considering extraditing the preacher as part of efforts to ease Turkish pressure on Saudi Arabia over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul.

RELATED: Failed 2016 coup against Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan



24 PHOTOS Failed 2016 coup against Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan See Gallery Failed 2016 coup against Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan ISTANBUL, TURKEY - JULY 16: Soldiers involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge with their hands raised on July 16, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey. Istanbul's bridges across the Bosphorus, the strait separating the European and Asian sides of the city, have been closed to traffic. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced an army coup attempt, that has left atleast 90 dead 1154 injured in overnight clashes in Istanbul and Ankara. (Photo by Gokhan Tan/Getty Images) ISTANBUL, TURKEY - JULY 16: Soliders involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge on July 16, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey. Istanbul's bridges across the Bosphorus, the strait separating the European and Asian sides of the city, have been closed to traffic. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced an army coup attempt, that has left atleast 90 dead 1154 injured in overnight clashes in Istanbul and Ankara. (Photo by Gokhan Tan/Getty Images) ISTANBUL, TURKEY - JULY 16:(EDITORS NOTE: Image contains graphic content.) A dead body of a Turkish soldier lies on the ground after soldiers involved in the coup attempt surrendered on Bosphorus bridge July 16, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey. Istanbul's bridges across the Bosphorus, the strait separating the European and Asian sides of the city, have been closed to traffic. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced an army coup attempt, that has left atleast 90 dead 1154 injured in overnight clashes in Istanbul and Ankara. (Photo by Stringer/Getty Images) An unidentified soldier accused of attempting to assassinate Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on the night of the failed last year's July 15 coup, is escorted by gendarmes as he leaves from the final hearing of the trial in Mugla, Turkey, October 4, 2017. REUTERS/Kenan Gurbuz An unidentified soldier accused of attempting to assassinate Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on the night of the failed last year's July 15 coup, is escorted by gendarmes as he leaves from the final hearing of the trial in Mugla, Turkey, October 4, 2017. REUTERS/Osman Orsal Supporters of President Tayyip Erdogan wave Turkish flags during a trial for soldiers accused of attempting to assassinate the president on the night of the failed last year's July 15 coup, in Mugla, Turkey, October 4, 2017. The placard reads that: "We want execution!". REUTERS/Osman Orsal A member of police special forces stands guard during a trial for Turkish soldiers accused of attempting to assassinate Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on the night of the failed July 15 coup, in Mugla, Turkey February 21, 2017. REUTERS/Kenan Gurbuz Police vehicles patrol during a trial for Turkish soldiers accused of attempting to assassinate President Tayyip Erdogan on the night of the failed July 15 coup in Mugla, Turkey, February 28, 2017. REUTERS/Kenan Gurbuz Supporters of Tukish President Tayyip Erdogan celebrate after around 50 soldiers involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Yagiz Karahan ISTANBUL, TURKEY - JULY 16: Soldiers involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge with their hands raised on July 16, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey. Istanbul's bridges across the Bosphorus, the strait separating the European and Asian sides of the city, have been closed to traffic. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced an army coup attempt, that has left atleast 90 dead 1154 injured in overnight clashes in Istanbul and Ankara. (Photo by Gokhan Tan/Getty Images) A heavily armed sniper guards the car of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following a funeral service at Fatih mosque for victims of a thwarted coup in Istanbul, Turkey, July 17, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer MUGLA, TURKEY - OCTOBER 04: Defendant Abdulhamit Gul Erdem, who is charged with attempting to assassinate President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as part of the defeated July 15, 2016 coup, is being taken to prison under heavy security measures at the Mugla Chamber of Commerce and Industry's conference hall in Mugla, Turkey on October 04, 2017. During the night of the coup attempt, two police officers were martyred at the scene of Erdogan's hotel in the port town of Marmaris. The case involved 47 suspects, including 43 who were jailed pending trial and two suspects who remain at large, all charged with being part of the 'assassination team' targeting Erdogan. (Photo by Mustafa Ciftci/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) Families of victims killed on Bosphorus bridge wait to enter the court on October 9, 2017 at the Silivri prison courthouse, in Istanbul, during a trial of 143 soldiers accused of causing the deaths of 34 people on Istanbul's first Bosphorus bridge on the night of last year's failed coup. Almost 150 former Turkish military personnel go on trial Monday over clashes on an Istanbul bridge during last year's failed coup that claimed dozens of lives including a key aide of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The bridge across the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul was the scene of bloody fighting between Erdogan's supporters and renegade soldiers seeking to oust the elected government on the night of July 15, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / OZAN KOSE (Photo credit should read OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images) MUGLA, TURKEY - OCTOBER 4: Defendant Yucel Ekizoglu (C), who is charged with attempting to assassinate President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as part of the defeated July 15, 2016 coup, is being taken to prison under heavy security measures at the Mugla Chamber of Commerce and Industry's conference hall in Mugla, Turkey on October 4, 2017. During the night of the coup attempt, two police officers were martyred at the scene of Erdogan's hotel in the port town of Marmaris. The case involved 47 suspects, including 43 who were jailed pending trial and two suspects who remain at large, all charged with being part of the 'assassination team' targeting Erdogan. (Photo by Mustafa Ciftci/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) ISTANBUL, TURKEY - JULY 18: Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan light flares as they gather in Istanbul's central Taksim Square on July 18, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey. Clean up operations are continuing in the aftermath of Friday's failed military coup attempt which claimed the lives of more than 232 people. In raids across Turkey 7,543 people have been arrested in relation to the failed coup including high-ranking soldiers and judges, Turkey's PM Binali Yildirim has said. (Photo by Kursat Bayhan/Getty Images) ISTANBUL, TURKEY - JULY 16: People gather for celebration around Turkish police officers, loyal to the government, standing atop tanks abandoned by Turkish army officers, against a backdrop of Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge in Istanbul, July 16, 2016, Turkey. Istanbul's bridges across the Bosphorus, the strait separating the European and Asian sides of the city, have been closed to traffic.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced an army coup attempt, that has left atleast 90 dead 1154 injured in overnight clashes in Istanbul and Ankara. (Photo by Burak Kara/Getty Images) ISTANBUL, TURKEY - JULY 16: People gather for celebration around Turkish police officers, loyal to the government, standing atop tanks abandoned by Turkish army officers, against a backdrop of Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge in Istanbul, July 16, 2016, Turkey. Istanbul's bridges across the Bosphorus, the strait separating the European and Asian sides of the city, had been closed to traffic.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced an army coup attempt, that has left atleast 90 dead 1154 injured in overnight clashes in Istanbul and Ankara. (Photo by Burak Kara/Getty Images) ANKARA, TURKEY - JULY 21: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during a press conference after the National Security Council and Cabinet meetings at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkey on July 21, 2016. (Photo by Kayhan Ozer/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) ISTANBUL, TURKEY - JULY 20: A man waves a flare from the Republic Monument in Taksim Square on July 20, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey. Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced tonight a three month state of emergency following Friday night's failed coup. Clean up operations are continuing in the aftermath with the death toll now standing at 246 and 1536 wounded. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images) ISTANBUL, TURKEY - JULY 16: Clothes and weapons beloging to soldiers involved in the coup attempt that have now surrendered lie on the ground abandoned onBosphorus bridge on July 16, 2016, Istanbul,Turkey. Istanbul's bridges across the Bosphorus, the strait separating the European and Asian sides of the city, have been closed to traffic.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced an army coup attempt, that has left atleast 90 dead 1154 injured in overnight clashes in Istanbul and Ankara. (Photo by Gokhan Tan/Getty Images) ISTANBUL, TURKEY - JULY 16: An unidentified man uses his belt to hit Turkish soldiers involved in the coup attempt that have now surrendered on Bosphorus bridge on July 16, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey. Istanbul's bridges across the Bosphorus, the strait separating the European and Asian sides of the city, have been closed to traffic.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced an army coup attempt, that has left atleast 90 dead 1154 injured in overnight clashes in Istanbul and Ankara. (Photo by Stringer/Getty Images) ANKARA, TURKEY - JULY 16: People walk and clean up around the damage and debris at the Turkish parliament which was attacked at least three times through the night during a military coup on July 16, 2016 in Ankara, Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced an army coup attempt, that has left high fatalities and thousands injured in overnight clashes in Istanbul and Ankara. (Photo by Erhan Ortac/Getty Images) ISTANBUL, TURKEY - JULY 21: Citizens light torches and wave Turkish Flags as they gather at Millet Park, close to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's residence in Istanbul, during a march, staged to protest and to show solidarity against Parallel State/Gulenist Terrorist Organization's failed military coup attempt, in Istanbul, Turkey on July 21, 2016. Parallel State is a terrorist organization leaded by U.S.-based cleric Fetullah Gulen, who is accused of a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through infiltrating into Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, forming a parallel state. (Photo by Abdullah Coskun/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) Up Next See Gallery Discover More Like This HIDE CAPTION SHOW CAPTION of SEE ALL BACK TO SLIDE

Erdogan said last week Turkey would start new initiatives abroad to target the financing of Gulen supporters.

"I have recently seen a credible probe by the FBI on how the Gulen organization avoids taxes," Cavusoglu told a conference in Doha. (Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Mark Potter)

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