From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja

The Federal Government has confirmed that Turkish authorities requested for the extradition of over 1,000 Turkish citizens in Nigeria for belonging to the Fethullah Movement (FETO).

   FETO was declared a terrorists organisation by the Turkish government in the wake of a foiled coup d’etat.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, confirmed this at a news conference on Saturday, in Istanbul, to wrap up President Muhammadu Buhari’s four-day visit to Ankara and the D8 meeting.

Onyeama said but for the diplomatic skills of President Buhari, the matter would have led to strained diplomatic relations between Nigeria and Turkey.

Buhari is currently in Turkey for a state visit as well as to attend the ninth D8 Summit in Istanbul, which held on Friday.

Nigeria had last year refused to honour request by Turkish government  to close down 17 Turkish schools in the country for their alleged links with the movement led by Fethullah Gulen, fingered for the July 15, 2016 failed coup attempt in Turkey. But Gulen has consistently denied being the mastermind of the coup, which was foiled when thousands of Turks from all political stripes took to the streets to resist soldiers. No fewer than 200 were reportedly killed during the political upheaval while over 2,000 others sustained injuries.

Following the development, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, 63, who became president in 2015, after serving as Prime minister (2003-2014) and as mayor of Istanbul (1994-1998), launched a masive offensive against suspected coupist, which he later extended to the media, rights activists and opposition parliamentarians (MPs), as he vowed to chop off heads of “traitors and dissidents”, chief among them Gullen, who he accused the United States of American of harbouring.

In the process,  the Erdogan-led government had requested the Nigerian government to close the schools owned by the Gullen-led FETO.

According to Onyeama: “There was the request for the extradition of some of the Turks in Nigeria who have been given asylum to remain in Nigeria and recognized by the United Nations (UN) as political refugees and the Turkish government requested that we extradite some of them. There was also the request that the schools and hospitals established by GülenMovement should be closed in Nigeria. They now labelled them Fethtulah (FETO) as a terrorists organization.” 

Although he did not say if Nigeria would accede to the extradition request, the minister added: “These were all issues that were lingering and complicating, slightly, relationship between the two countries. So, what this visit has been able to do, I think, is to put all those to rest, facilitated direct engagement and what I will call agreeing for a way forward between the two countries. 

“Mr. President was very, very good in that. He is a very good diplomat, very, very skillful diplomat. He was able to really douse the tension between the two sides while not compromising on principles of Nigeria. He did it very, very well with a lot of diplomatic skills. The result has been that it has improved relationship between the two countries and governments. The level of confidence between the two countries has also increased. It is a real diplomatic masterpiece.” 

Onyeama said President Buhari assured President Erdogan that Nigeria would not allow its territory to be used as a breeding ground for any terrorist or group of individuals with the aim of destabilising Turkey.

“The point was made, and Mr. President with regard to the Gülen Movement, that under no circumstances would Nigeria allow itself to be a base for the destabilisation of Turkey. And Mr. President came out very strongly in support of the democratic process and institutions of Turkey, condemning the coup attempt in Turkey and reassuring the Turkish government of Nigeria’s total support for the territorial integrity of Turkey, for the democratic governance in Turkey and the security of Turkey. Likewise, the Turkish government made that reassurance to Nigeria. So, once they got those different issues out of the way, it was much easier and they were more able to focus on what will transform the lives of Nigerians and the Turkish people,” Onyeama said.

The minister spoke on other areas that would have sparked off diplomatic crisis that President Buhari was able to amicably resolve with President Erdogan to include the refusal of visas to some Turkish security personnels, the issue of the Indigenous People of Bifra (IPOB), the delay in the issuance of Turkish visas to Nigeria and the request to increase the number of flights of Turkish Airlines into Nigeria.

“With all the outstanding issues, he was able to really skillfully navigate through but at the same time mending all the ruffled feathers and fences.  We were able to avoid making it what I will call antagonistic. The part that he really charted was to look at those areas where we can cooperate and there would be win-win and would diffuse tension. They looked at economic areas, educational areas, economic development, operational areas and agree to allow the normal legal international processes to run their course with regard to the more sensitive issues,” he said.