 On 2 August 2016, in an escalation of tensions with the United States, Erdoğan questioned Turkey's relationship with the United States and criticized the West, saying that "script" for the abortive putsch last month was "written abroad".Erdoğan stated that he had personally asked Obama to extradite Gülen to Turkey.When the U.S. government replied it would need evidence of the cleric's guilt before extradition, to which Erdoğan said