ISTANBUL, Sept 13 (Reuters) – Turkey has made a formal request to the United States for the arrest of U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen on charges of orchestrating an attempted military coup on July 15, Turkish broadcaster NTV said on Tuesday.

Turkey blames members of Gulen’s religious movement for the failed putsch two months ago, in which rogue soldiers commandeered tanks and fighters jets, bombing parliament and seizing bridges in a bid to take over power.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan discussed the issue with U.S. President Barack Obama at the G20 summit in China earlier this month. A senior U.S. administration official said at the time that Obama had explained to Erdogan that the decision would be a legal, not a political one.

(Reporting by Seda Sezer and Tuvan Gumrukcu; Writing by Nick Tattersall)