İbrahim E., who used to run a printing house belonging to the Gülen movement in Azerbaijan, has been extradited to Turkey as part of an ongoing government-led crackdown on the movement’s alleged or real followers, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Wednesday.
The Turkish government accuses the Gülen movement of masterminding a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016 and labels it a “terrorist organization,” although the movement strongly denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
İbrahim E. was recently brought to İstanbul accompanied by two Azerbaijani police officials on a charter flight and was subsequently referred to the Ankara Police Department for interrogation, reported Anadolu.
In a similar development, Zübeyir G., another Gülen-linked figure who was heading a company in Nigeria, was earlier this week detained by police at an airport in Turkey on an arrest warrant charging him with membership in an armed terrorist organization.
Zübeyir G. was brought to Ankara and jailed.
Following the coup attempt, the Turkish government launched a massive crackdown on followers of the movement under the pretext of an anti-coup fight as a result of which more than 150,000 people were removed from state jobs while in excess of 50,000 others were jailed and some 600,000 people have been investigated on allegations of terrorism.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expanded the witch-hunt against Gülen followers worldwide, asking several countries to close down Gülen-affiliated schools and institutions as well as to detain and extradite teachers, businessmen and their families who sympathize with the movement.