Turkey waits for US extradition of Gulen, says minister

‘All conditions have been fulfilled for an extradition. We now wait for the extradition,’ says justice minister

Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul said on Sunday that Turkey expected extradition of the self-exiled Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) leader Fetullah Gulen from the U.S., saying that all procedures had been completed.

Speaking to reporters in Ankara, Abdulhamit Gul said there were no missing documents or procedures left to hinder the extradition.

“For both parties, all conditions have been fulfilled for an extradition,” he said. “We now wait for the extradition.”

According to the Turkish government, the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

In response to a question on whether Gulen’s Turkish citizenship would be revoked, Abdulhamit Gul said it could be possible “through a demand from the Interior Ministry and by decision of the cabinet”.

In regards to media claims that suspected coup plotter, Adil Oksuz, fled to live in Germany where he owns a house, he said: “Our colleagues have started working on this. We will make a concrete demand [to Germany] related to this.”

Oksuz is alleged to be the “imam” to FETO members in the air force and a key link between U.S.-based FETO leader Fetullah Gulen and coup plotters in Turkey.

He was arrested in Turkey on the morning of July 16, 2016, but was subsequently released and has since disappeared.

Both Oksuz and Gulen are being tried in absentia in a case involving 486 defendants accused of helping orchestrate the coup attempt from the Akinci air force base, north of Ankara.

Source: Anadolu News Agency