Turkey’s foreign minister has announced he will be removing ambassadors with connections to the failed coup, as he warned the US of a diplomatic crisis if it did not hand over its chief suspect.

Mevlut Cavusoglu said ties with its Nato ally would suffer if Washington refused to extradite Fethullah Gulen, the exiled Islamic cleric accused by Turkey of masterminding the putsch from his home in rural Pennsylvania.

Mr Gulen, 75, whose foundation runs a global network of schools, charities and media interests, has strongly denied the accusations.

The US had repeatedly told Turkey it must provide clear evidence of Mr Gulen’s involvement before it would consider such a request. Mr Cavusoglu is heading to Washington this week to discuss the matter, but lawyers said the process, if launched, could take years.

Stoking tensions further, pro-Erdogan newspaper Yeni Safak on Monday published the name and picture of a US army commander on its front page, accusing him of being a chief plotter.