Turkey seeks extradition of 807 coup suspects from 105 countries

ANKARA

Turkey has requested the extradition of a total of 807 coup suspects from 105 countries in the wake of the 2016 coup attempt, however none of those nations have complied with Ankara’s demands.

Ankara has demanded the extradition of 156 suspects from the U.S., and another 257 individuals from European Union member states, Hürriyet daily reported.

The country’s Justice Ministry has filed seven separate extradition requests for 27 crimes committed with the U.S authorities for Fethullah Gülen, the leader of FETÖ, which is responsible of the 2016 coup attempt that left more than 250 people dead. However, no progress has been made regarding Turkey’s demands.

Ankara also demanded the extradition of 77 coup suspects from Germany. Only two members of FETÖ have been handed over to Turkey as of July 10 and those extraditions took place in 2015 even before the coup attempt as Romania responded to Turkey’s request.

In Turkey, a total of 4,130 coup suspects have been sentenced, including 2,332 aggravated or life sentences in 289 trials.

“To this day, four years after the coup, unfortunately some key allies in NATO and Europe including the U.S. continue to fail to understand the gravity of what happened and why we had to take measures,” presidential spokesperson İbrahim Kalın said on July 15 in an interview with English-language public broadcaster TRT World.

By adopting a rather cynical point of view, they ended up willingly or unwillingly siding with the FETÖ terrorists, Kalın said, adding that FETÖ terrorists in Western countries still continue to present themselves as a peaceful religious charity and educational institution.

He also said many people in Turkey believe that by harboring members of the organization, the U.S. gives them a safe haven.

FETÖ terrorists undermine Turkish-American relations by engaging in all kinds of smear campaigns, Kalın added.