Turkey to Demand Extradition of 'Gülenist' from Bulgaria
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said a delegation will be sent to Bulgaria to demand the extradition of a man allegedly affiliated to US-based cleric Fethullah Gülen, the public radio has said.
Çavuşoğlu's comments come as Turkey is responding to the failed coup attempt of mid-July, which it blames of Gülen and his movement that is referred to by Ankara as the "Fetullah Terrorist Organization", or FETÖ.
Turkey's top diplomat has told a crowd of supporters in the southwestern city of Antalya the person sought after by authorities arrived in Bulgaria prior to the developments.
"There is a traitor in Bulgaria who fled there before [the coup attempt]. We will demand that they hand him over to us," a correspondent for the Bulgarian National Radio quotes him as saying.
"We wll send a delegation to Bulgaria for this purpose."
No name of the alleged member has been mentioned.
Some of the people responsible for the thwarted coup managed to flee, "but will not manage to hide," Çavuşoğlu has asserted, adding all institutions, police and military have been "activated" to find them and make sure they are brought to court and punished.
If tabled, the extradition request will not be the first one made on behalf of Turkey in relation to alleged members of the Gülen movement.