The Turkish Embassy in Washington strongly denied former CIA Director James Woolsey's allegation that Turkish officials discussed the forced removal of Fetullah Gülen from the United States with Donald Trump's campaign officials in a meeting in New York last September.

The embassy said in a press release on late Monday that it was fully cooperating with U.S. authorities in accordance with the bilateral treaties and legal framework to ensure Gülen's extradition from the U.S.

Turkey has long demanded from U.S. authorities to return Gülen, a permanent resident in rural Pennsylvania, to Turkey. Turkish authorities allege that Gülen and his movement are the main culprits in the failed coup in Turkey last summer. Ankara has designated the Gülen Movement, a messianic religious order according to some experts, as a terror group.

Woolsey came forward last week and publicly spoke about a confidential meeting between Turkish officials, among them Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, and Trump campaign officials including Former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn. He said Americans in the room brought up the idea of grabbing Gülen in the dark of the night and transferring him to Turkey by force.

Woolsey said there was no specific or any concrete plan proposed, but he was still concerned about this vague and possibly illegal idea.

One of Flynn's spokespersons denied the allegation to U.S. media. A source present at the meeting told Daily Sabah that Woolsey's claims were baseless and no illegal matter of any sort were discussed during the meeting.

Now, the Turkish officials are also denying this claim. "The Republic of Turkey, being a democratic country bound by the rule of law, has not been engaged in any illegal plan or action for the extradition of Fetullah Gülen to face trial in Turkey," the Turkish Embassy said.

"Any other allegation in connection with the extradition of Fetullah Gülen to Turkey is false, ludicrous and groundless,"

Woolsey claimed that he had also notified then Vice President Joe Biden's office about the meeting. A spokesperson for Biden declined to comment on the issue, but only underlined the fact that the vice president was in favor of returning Gülen through legal means.