Türkiye’s 7 extradition requests for FETO leader Gulen remain unanswered by US

Türkiye has made seven extradition requests to the U.S. for the extradition of Fetullah Gulen, the leader of FETO and the main orchestrator of the coup attempt on July 15.

The first request was submitted four days after the coup attempt. Nevertheless, despite eight years passing, the Washington has not responded to these requests.

In contrast, 132 individuals requested by Türkiye have been extradited by various countries, while different nations have rejected 424 requests.

Throughout this process, former Ministers of Justice Bekir Bozdag and Abdulhamit Gul traveled to the U.S. to discuss Gulen’s extradition with their counterparts. Delegations from the U.S. Department of Justice and the State Department also visited Türkiye to gather information about the July 15 coup attempt and cases related to the Gulen organization.

A delegation, including U.S. judges, visited the Ankara Courthouse and engaged in discussions. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also brought up Gulen’s extradition with U.S. President Donald Trump in 2017.

However, to date, the U.S. has not decided on Gulen’s extradition.

Gulen, now 84 years old, has been living on a farm in Pennsylvania since 1999 and has recently been experiencing health issues. He attempted to seize control of Türkiye through the coup on July 15, 2016.

These extradition requests involve 27 different offenses, including the July 15 coup attempt, attempting to overthrow the government, killing people, and establishing and leading an armed terrorist organization.