Turkey's Erdogan calls on Germany to extradite Gulen supporters

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses a news conference at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, September 28, 2018. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

BERLIN (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Friday called on Berlin to extradite what he said were the hundreds of supporters of the cleric Fethullah Gulen residing in Germany.

Erdogan made the comment at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Erdogan arrived in Germany on Thursday for a three-day visit. He is eager to improve ties with Europe's biggest economy and secure investments to shore up a struggling economy at home.

He also urged Germany to designate the network of Gulen - whom he blames for a 2016 attempted coup - as a terrorist organisation.

(Reporting by Andreas Rinke in Berlin, Ece Toksabay and Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Daren Butler)