Norway should extradite 5 soldiers: Turkey’s deputy PM

ADIYAMAN, Turkey (AA) – Norway should extradite five Turkish military officers suspected of links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group blamed for last year’s defeated coup in Turkey, said Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus Thursday.

Speaking to reporters in Turkey’s southeastern province of Adiyaman, Kurtulmus said: “We are issuing a friendly warning to the Norwegian government: Turkey requests the extradition of these people.”

State-owned Norwegian news broadcaster NRK reported Wednesday that four military officers and a military attaché working at NATO bases had requested asylum after the July 2016 coup attempt in Turkey, which Ankara says was orchestrated by FETO.

Their lawyer, Kjell M. Brygfjeld, confirmed that the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration accepted his clients’ requests and granted them residence and work permits.

FETO, led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen, has been accused of orchestrating the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 249 people martyred and around 2,200 wounded.

Turkey's government accuses the FETO terror network of staging the coup attempt as well as being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

Since the foiled coup, operations have been ongoing in the military, police, and judiciary, as well as in other state institutions across the country, to arrest suspects with alleged links to FETO.

Tens of thousands of police officers, military service personnel, and other public employees have been arrested.

Last month, an Interior Ministry spokesman said more than 130 Turkish citizens -- including former soldiers, diplomats, and their family members -- had sought asylum in Germany since the failed putsch.