Turkey's justice minister says some 6,000 people have been detained in a government crackdown on alleged coup plotters and government opponents.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag says in a television interview that "the cleansing (operation) is continuing. Some 6,000 detentions have taken place. The number could surpass 6,000."

Bozdag also said he was confident that the United States would return Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen to Turkey. The Turkish president has blamed Gulen and his followers for the failed military coup on Friday night, but Gulen has denied any involvement in or knowledge about the attempted coup. The U.S. says it will look at any evidence Turkey has to offer against Gulen, and judge accordingly.

Bozdag says "the United States would weaken itself by protecting him, it would harm its reputation. I don't think that at this hour, the United States would protect someone who carried out this act against Turkey."

Turkey's state-run news agency says authorities have issued a warrant for the arrest of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's top military aide.

The Anadolu Agency says Sunday the warrant was issued against Col. Ali Yazici following Friday's failed coup attempt. It wasn't immediately clear what role, if any, Yazici played in the attempted coup that started late Friday.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says the coup plotters have been defeated, the coup has failed and life has returned to normal.