ANKARA, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Friday described as "unfortunate" comments by U.S. officials suggesting that purges in the Turkish military after a failed coup were damaging cooperation in the fight against Islamic State (IS).
Speaking to media in an interview, Cavusoglu said that the Turkish army became more trustworthy, clean and effective in the fight against the IS after it has been cleansed.
The top diplomat added the ties restored between Turkey and Russia was not an alternative to NATO and the European Union.
"Turkey is a NATO ally and a candidate for EU membership," he added.
On Thursday, Cavusoglu told local media CNN Turk that ties between Turkey and the U.S. would be impacted if the U.S. did not hand over Gulen to Turkey.
"Our relations will be affected if the U.S. will not give us Gulen. It is inevitable. We don't want to think about the bad scenarios," he said.
Gulen, who heads the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) according to the Turkish government, has been residing in Pennsylvania since 1999.
Turkey's government had said the deadly July 15 coup attempt was organized by followers of Gulen.
