Türkiye catches fugitive FETÖ judge in Ankara
Turkish security forces on Saturday arrested a Supreme Court judge wanted for being a member of the Gülenist Terrorist Group (FETÖ), who orchestrated the defeated coup attempt on July 15, 2016, Azernews reports, citing dailysabah.
Necmeddin Özmen, a former investigative judge who had been a wanted fugitive of Turkish law for the past seven years, was caught in the Etimesgut district of the capital in an operation conducted by the organized crime department as he was about to flee abroad.
In addition to being a ByLock user, an encrypted messaging app developed and exclusively used by FETÖ, Özmen had been using different disguises and addresses, as well as identity cards of other people, which he used to dodge the law.
Furthermore, they seized euros, U.S. dollars, Swiss francs and gold amounting to a total of TL 1.5 million ($55,395.31) on his person.
He is currently held at the Ankara Police Headquarters as he is processed, authorities said.
Türkiye accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.
An unknown number of FETÖ members, mostly high-ranking figures, fled Türkiye when the coup attempt was thwarted. A large number of the group's members had already left the country prior to the coup attempt after Turkish prosecutors launched investigations into other crimes of the terrorist group. Despite Türkiye's extradition requests and bilateral legal agreements, many FETÖ members still freely enjoy their lives in different countries around the world. In the aftermath of the 2016 coup attempt, Türkiye has sped up extradition processes for members of FETÖ abroad.
The U.S., where FETÖ's fugitive head Fetullah Gülen resides, is the subject of most extradition requests. Türkiye has sent several extradition requests for Gülen to Washington so far but, unfortunately, has seen little progress on this subject. Gülen, who arrived in the U.S. in 1999, currently lives in a luxurious retreat in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania.
He never leaves the well-guarded compound but occasionally gives interviews to foreign media. Ankara formally requested Gülen's extradition on July 19, 2016, and has been pressing the U.S. ever since, sending hundreds of folders full of evidence implicating Gülen and FETÖ in the coup attempt.
The issue has been raised in bilateral meetings between Turkish and American officials in phone calls, letters and other exchanges.
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