Fethullah Gulen

A Turkish court on Friday jailed an employee of the Orizont private high school chain in Moldova, Yasin Ozdil - who was handed over to Turkey in 2018 in a joint secret service operation - for 12 years.

Ozdil formerly headed the public relations department for a branch of the school chain in the Durlesti area, near the Moldovan capital, Chisinau.

Parliament in Ankara will soon ratify the NATO accession protocol for North Macedonia and will not condition this with Skopje delivering suspected supporters of exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara considers terrorists, Deputy Foreign Minister Faruk Kaymakci has said in an interview.

This will happen unless Skopje extradites 15 Turkish nationals Ankara accuses of taking part in a failed coup in 2016, the article said, citing Balkan Insight.

Turkey is reportedly threatening to delay the ratification of North Macedonia's NATO accession protocol if the Balkan country does not extradite 15 Turkish nationals Ankara accuses of taking part in a failed coup in 2016.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry reopened the issue of a "Turkish minority" in Thrace, northeastern Greece, again on Friday and urged Athens to safeguard its rights. 

U.S. President Donald Trump told his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that Washington "would take a look at" the possibility of extraditing FETÖ leader Fethullah Gülen, who Ankara accuses of being behind a 2016 coup attempt, but he made no commitment, the White House has said.

President Donald Trump did not commit during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the G20 summit two weeks ago to extradite Fethullah Gülen, a senior White House official said on Dec. 17.

Turkey's Parliamentary Speaker Binali Yıldırım has blasted the United States for its lack of action in extraditing Fethullah Gülen, the U.S.-based leader of the illegal FETÖ.

The brother of Fethullah Gülen, who is widely believed to have masterminded the 2016 coup attempt, has been sentenced to 10.5 years in jail, judicial sources said on Oct. 1.

Igor Dodon announced on Tuesday that his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan will make an official visit to Chisinau from October 17-18 for the opening of the presidential palace in Chisinau, which was renovated with funds from Ankara.