Steph Solis

USA TODAY

Turkey has detained about 6,000 people in a government crackdown on alleged coup plotters and government opponents, the Justice Ministry announced Sunday.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said the number could grow. In a television interview reported by The Associated Press, Bozdag also said he was confident that the United States would extradite Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in exile in Pennsylvania.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan believes Gulen, 75, was behind the coup attempt and he called for his extradition Saturday in a televised speech. Gulen promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education and science.

“I don’t think that at this hour, the United States would protect someone who carried out this act against Turkey,” Bozdag said.

Gulen has denied any involvement or knowledge about the attempted coup. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. would consider extradition — if Turkey's government could prove Gulen's role in the failed uprising.

Kerry told CNN on Sunday that the U.S. is waiting for a formal extradition request to the State and Justice departments. He said U.S. courts need a solid legal foundation to approve such a request.

“The United States is not harboring anybody, we are not preventing anything from happening," Kerry said. “We think it’s irresponsible to have accusations of American involvement when we’re simply waiting for their request, which we're absolutely prepared to act on if it meets the legal standard."

The U.S. resumed flights out of Turkey to attack the Islamic State, which is also known as ISIS or ISIL, after "close coordination" with allies, according to Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook.

"After close coordination with our Turkish allies, counter-ISIL coalition air operations in Turkey have resumed," Cook tweeted.

The crackdown comes less than a day after Erdogan said government forces have quelled a coup attempt and that the orchestrators will "pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey.”

The coup attempt began late Friday as military members issued a statement saying it had seized control “to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms" to the country.

At least 265 people were killed and more than 1,400 were wounded during the failed coup, the AP reported.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters Saturday that 2,839 officers, including 29 colonels and over 40 generals, have already been taken into military custody. More than 100 judges and military officers were detained Sunday over alleged ties to the attempted military coup, the Turkish-run Anadolu news agency and CNN Turk reported.

The coup attempt appears to have boosted Erdogan’s popularity. Clapping, singing and dancing, thousands of government supporters celebrated the defeat of the coup in public squares in Ankara and Istanbul into the wee hours Sunday, bolstering support for the man who’s led Turkey for over 13 years.

Erdogan’s office said Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is supporting “Turkey’s elected government." The leaders agreed to meet next month.

Alleged mastermind of attempted coup in Turkey is cleric living in Pennsylvania