Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) announced the capture of Mehmet Cintosun, a senior figure of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), on Friday. Cintosun was brought to Türkiye from an unspecified country he was arrested in.
He is accused of serving as one of the financiers of FETÖ, which was behind the July 15, 2016 coup attempt in Türkiye. He already had an outstanding arrest warrant on charges of membership in a terrorist group issued by Türkiye.
Cintosun was a resident of Azerbaijan between 1995 and 2014 and one of the high-ranking members of the terrorist group in that country. He returned to Türkiye in 2014 but fled abroad after the coup attempt was foiled.
Security sources speaking to Turkish media outlets said he was using couriers loyal to him to send money to FETÖ members active in Türkiye. He was also in contact with other fugitive FETÖ members, including Bahattin Karataş, Harun Tokak and Talip Büyük, running a financial organization with them to fund FETÖ. Cintosun is also accused of providing logistics support to terrorist group members seeking to flee from Türkiye.
So far, MIT has brought some 100 members of the terrorist group from abroad after intelligence operations since the coup attempt. The terrorist group faced heightened scrutiny in the wake of the attempt carried out by its infiltrators in the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).
Although most military officers who took part in the coup bid were sentenced, the "civilian" members of FETÖ remain more elusive. Harun Tokak, one of Cintosun's contacts, for instance, was recently sighted in Sweden after an investigative journalist from Sabah newspaper tracking down fugitive FETÖ members in Europe managed to locate him.
Despite Türkiye's extradition requests and bilateral legal agreements, many FETÖ members still freely enjoy their lives in different countries around the world. In the aftermath of the July 15, 2016 coup attempt, Türkiye has sped up extradition processes for members of FETÖ abroad.
The U.S., where FETÖ's fugitive head Gülen resides, is the target of most extradition requests. Türkiye has sent several extradition requests for Gülen to Washington so far, but unfortunately, has seen little progress in his extradition. Gülen, who arrived in the U.S. in 1999, currently lives in a luxurious retreat in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, in self-imposed exile.
He never leaves the well-guarded compound but often gives interviews with foreign media. Ankara formally requested Gülen's extradition on July 19, 2016, and has been pressing the U.S. ever since, sending hundreds of folders full of evidence implicating Gülen and FETÖ in the coup attempt.
The issue has also been raised in bilateral meetings between Turkish and American officials in phone calls, letters and other exchanges.