Turkish community in US runs ad in Washington Post demanding FETO leader’s extradition

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) – The Turkish community in the US ran an advertisement Thursday in the Washington Post that demands the extradition of the ringleader of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind a deadly 2016 coup attempt in Turkey.

The full-page ad includes the names of those killed the night of the coup attempt and it said: "Justice delayed is justice denied."

FETO and its US-based leader, Fetullah Gulen, orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, in which 251 people were killed and 2,734 injured.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.

Gulen has lived in self-exile in the US near Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania since 1999.

Since the coup attempt, Turkey has sought Gulen's extradition and complained that Washington is not moving fast enough.

July 15, the day of the defeated coup, is marked in Turkey as Democracy and National Unity Day, with commemorations set to be held across the country and diplomatic missions abroad.