Turkey asks over 100 countries to extradite Gulen network members

The Turkish Justice Ministry has asked 105 countries, including the US and Germany, to extradite more than 800 people affiliated with a movement led by US-based opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom the Ankara government accuses of having masterminded the July 2016 coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency reported on Monday that Ankara has already sent out a total of 856 extradition files to various world states, and has so far demanded the extradition of 156 Gulenists from the US, and 257 others from European Union member states.

The report added that the highest number of extradition requests was made to Germany for 77 people, followed by Greece for 64 and Belgium for 36 others.

Following the requests, 116 Gulenists in 27 countries have been handed over to Turkish authorities.

The report noted that Turkey has requested from US officials the extradition of Cevdet Turkyolu, Gulen's close aide, his private doctor Kudret Unal as well as high-profile Gulenists Ekrem Dumanli, Emrullah Uslu, Hakan Sukur and Ihsan Kalkavan.

Also on Monday, Turkish authorities issued arrest warrants for 24 suspects over their alleged links to the Gulen movement, which is regarded by Ankara as a terror organization and has been branded as the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

At least 18 suspects were arrested in Turkey after the warrants were issued.

Security sources said the people were arrested after provincial anti-smuggling and organized crime teams had carried out simultaneous raids in the provinces of Adana, Karaman, Ankara, Yozgat, Mersin, Kocaeli and Istanbul early in the morning.

The sources, requesting not to be named, said the suspects were found to be using encrypted messaging application ByLock, which the Turkish government claims to be the top communication tool among members of the Gulen movement.

MG