Turkey's key coup suspect 'under police protection' in Germany

BERLIN

The apartment in Berlin’s Neukölln district where Adil Öksüz has allegedly been staying. (Photo: Anadolu Agency)

Germany’s Justice Ministry has not approved the arrest of Turkey's key coup suspect Adil Öksuz and he has been put under police protection, local media reported June 15.

Öksüz, a theology lecturer accused of masterminding the attempted coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016, was on the run for almost two years.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency claimed last week that the 51-year-old suspect stayed for some time at a small apartment in Berlin’s Neukölln district with the help of the followers of U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen, which Ankara designated as the Fethullahis Terrorist Organization (FETÖ).

The Frankfurter Rundschau daily reported June 15 that its sources also confirmed that Öksüz lived at this apartment and further claimed that he was recently put under protection by Berlin police. 

A police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity to the local Berliner Zeitung said Öksüz was living at this apartment and was transferred to a secure place after his whereabouts were revealed.

The Tagesspiegel daily reported June 15 that Germany’s Justice Ministry has not approved the arrest of Öksüz and also opposed extraditing him to Turkey.

Since the coup attempt, nearly 4,000 FETÖ suspects have come to Germany from Turkey and other countries, according to local media reports.

Several FETÖ suspects, including former soldiers and diplomats, have applied for asylum in various German federal states.