Ankara sends diplomatic note to Berlin over coup suspect Öksüz

BERLIN - Anadolu Agency

Ankara has issued a diplomatic note to Berlin asking whether the fugitive prime suspect of the July 15, 2016 coup attempt, Adil Öksüz, is in Germany, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said in an interview on Aug. 16. 

In the diplomatic note delivered via the Turkish Embassy in Berlin, Ankara mentioned recent news reports in the Turkish media suggesting that Öksüz was hiding in Germany. 

The note urged German authorities “to investigate the accuracy of the news reports, and for the detention and extradition of the coup plotter in the event of the reports’ accuracy,” a Turkish Foreign Ministry official told the Hürriyet Daily News on condition of anonymity. 

Öksüz, a key coup figure whose whereabouts have been unknown since July 2016, was caught while trying to escape from the Akıncı air base on the night of July 15, 2016, but was released a short while later by a court in the Sincan district. 

Last week, the pro-government daily Yeni Şafak claimed that Öksüz had taken shelter in Germany after the coup attempt, claiming that German authorities did not inform of his presence in the country to official records.

Öksüz arrived in Istanbul on July 18 from Ankara and later traveled to the western Sakarya province, the daily reported.

The coup plotter, whom the Turkish authorities claim to be the “imam” of the Turkish air forces from the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), was allegedly seen in Frankfurt and Ulm recently, according to Yeni Şafak.