Fetö leader’s nephew captured ‘in Kenya’ op
National Intelligence Organisation agents return Selahaddin to Turkey
TURKISH agents have captured the nephew of US-based Muslim leader Fethullah Gülen in an overseas operation and have brought him to Turkey where he now faces prosecution.
Selahaddin Gülen who was wanted in Turkey on charges of membership of a terror organisation, was seized in an operation by Turkey’s national spy agency MIT, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Monday.
The report did not say where he was captured or when he was returned to Turkey. Mr Gülen was believed to be residing in Kenya. On May 6, a Kenyan court banned Mr Gülen’s arrest and extradition to Turkey, according to legal documents seen by the AFP news agency.
The court also ordered the return of his passport and said he should be allowed to return to the United States.
An Interpol red notice was issued at Turkey’s request for Mr Gülen, who arrived in Nairobi on October 17, 2020, and was arrested before he was freed on bail two days later. His lawyer was not available for comment.
His case is the latest in a series of forced repatriation of people affiliated with the Gülenist movement, which the Turkish government blames for a failed coup attempt in 2016.
Mr Gülen [Fetullah], a former ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who now lives in the US, has rejected the accusations.
Turkey has designated his network as a terrorist group, which it has named the Fethullahist Terror Organization, or Fetö.
Earlier in May, Mr Erdoğan announced a prominent member of Mr Gülen’s [Fetullah] network had been captured but did not provide details.