Turkish official: Gulen's extradition 'accelerated'

By Azernews

By Gunay Hasanova

The extradition of the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) leader, Fethullah Gulen has been accelerated following the recent U.S. visit of the Turkish justice minister, said Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus, Anadolu Agency reported.

"It does not seem easy that Gulen could be extradited to Turkey or provisionally arrested tomorrow morning, but I can say that the process has been accelerated," the minister told reporters in Ankara.

"Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag's visit [last week] has sped up Gulen's extradition or provisional arrest," Kurtulmush said.

Gulen, who has resided in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania since 1999, is the alleged mastermind behind the failed bloody July 15 coup attempt in Turkey.

Since then, Turkey has officially requested his extradition from the U.S., based on a 1979 treaty between two countries.

Upon Washington’s request, Turkey sent another file last August along with evidence to the U.S. that summarized four previously sent files. Afterward, a U.S. delegation visited Turkey at the end of August and monitored those documents.

The U.S. then requested an additional batch of files and evidence from Turkey, which Bozdag presented to Lynch during their meeting last week.

The extradition treaty includes an article that a suspect should be provisionally arrested until the extradition process starts.

On July 15 evening, Turkish authorities said a military coup attempt took place in the country. Meanwhile, a group of servicemen announced about the transition of power to them.

However, the rebelling servicemen started to surrender on July 16 and Turkish authorities said the coup attempt failed.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said the death toll as a result of the military coup attempt stood at 246 people, excluding the coup plotters, and over 2,000 people were wounded.

Turkey’s government blames FETO for the deadly July 15 defeated coup in the country. At least 241 people were martyred in the failed coup, which the government has said was organized by followers of Fethullah Gulen, the head of FETO.

Gulen is also accused of leading a long-running campaign to overthrow the Turkish government through the infiltration of state institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.