Turkey insists Germany should extradite suspected Gülenists

ANKARA

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu once again highlighted on June 5 Ankara’s demand from Berlin to extradite the followers of Fethullah Gülen, the main suspect in the probes into the July 15, 2016 coup attempt. 

“Our friend Germany should not be the harbor of our enemies. It’s our natural right to expect our friend and ally to take more serious steps on this issue,” Çavuşoğlu said during a joint press meeting with his visiting German counterpart, Sigmar Gabriel.

Turkey wants Germany to hand over 450 former military personnel and diplomats, as well as senior bureaucrats believed to have links with the coup plotters. 

Gabriel, for his part, recalled that asylum requests are being handled by an independent body and relevant judicial institutions and said the German government has no authority in this process. 

“Germany is a country of the rule of law,” Gabriel stressed, noting the necessity for the Turkish state to provide strong evidence that the individuals cited were involved in the coup attempt.