Turkey sent extradition requests and files on hundreds of people linked to the Gulenist Terror Group (FETO) to 83 countries, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, Daily Sabah reported
"Within the scope of the investigations into the ringleaders of FETO's foreign structures, extradition files related to 452 people were prepared. These were sent to 83 countries where (the suspects) were found," Cavusoglu told a parliamentary committee Wednesday.
According to the minister, Germany was one of the countries that are far from meeting Turkey's demands regarding alleged FETO members.
In September, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Berlin to extradite hundreds of FETO terrorists residing in Germany, while Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany needed more evidence if it was to class the movement as a terrorist organization, as Ankara is demanding.
Speaking about Turkish-U.S. ties, Cavusoglu said Turkey was making efforts to get the U.S. Congress to drop bills targeting Ankara.
The U.S. Senate has demanded a block on sales of F-35 jets to Turkey unless U.S. President Donald Trump certifies that Turkey is not threatening NATO, purchasing defence equipment from Russia or detaining U.S. citizens.
Cavusoglu also said in the text of his speech, which he is delivering to a parliamentary commission on Wednesday, that Turkey is working to keep economic ties with the U.S. from being impacted by political issues.
FETO, a criminal enterprise founded by fugitive Fetullah Gulen, has been directly implicated in the December 2013 judicial coup attempt and the July 15, 2016, military coup attempt against the democratically elected government of Turkey.
With its media and business arms, the terrorist group created significant public clout, which was augmented by infiltration in state institutions, principally the judiciary, police and military. Many of its most senior members fled abroad on the eve or soon after the coup attempt in 2016.
Over the years, FETO transformed into a behemoth, with finance, business, education and media arms spread across the globe. It has charter schools in the U.S., mainly used to collect and siphon federal funds for various FETO projects, while its schools in the rest of the world are usually used for recruiting.