Turkey has requested the extradition of 807 members of the Gülen movement, which is accused of orchestrating a failed coup in 2016, from 105 countries, more than half from the United States and Europe, the Ahval news website reported, citing the pro-government Daily Sabah.
The Turkish authorities have sought the extradition of 156 Gülen followers from the United States and 257 from European Union countries, Daily Sabah said. Gülen movement strongly denies any involvement in the abortive putsch.
In Europe, Germany came first with 77 extradition requests, then Greece with 64 and Belgium with 36, the newspaper said.
Most Western governments are skeptical about accepting Turkey’s demands — the United States has repeatedly rejected Turkey’s request to extradite the Gülen movement’s leader, Fethullah Gülen, a 79-year-old Islamic cleric, citing lack of evidence of his involvement in the coup attempt.
European politicians often cite concerns about human rights and express doubts over suspects’ access to a fair trial.
Some less developed nations have, however, proven more receptive to Turkey’s requests.
Turkish intelligence agents have successfully extradited Turkish nationals from numerous countries, including Kosovo and Gabon in 2018 and Azerbaijan, Cambodia and Pakistan last year, sometimes without judicial process.