In an astonishing and reckless attack on the US the Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that the country considers itself at war with any nation that stands by the US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. 

He said: "Any country that protects Fethullah Gulen will be an enemy to Turkey."

Moderate cleric Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, has been a constant scapegoat for Erdogan who has accused him of trying to establish a "parallel state" to rival his own fiefdom. 

The statement by Mr Yildirim will be seen as a thinly veiled threat to America to give up Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile at a religious retreat, or face diplomatic or even military consequences.