Ekrem Dumanlı has been at large for the past eight years. He was occasionally sighted in the United States but the for the first time, the Sabah newspaper learned about his exact location, in New Jersey. A prominent figure in the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) behind the July 15, 2016 defeated coup in Türkiye, he now lives in a suburban residence at a rent of $2,800 a month.
Dumanlı, like other fugitive members of the terrorist group, fled Türkiye via Greece, crossing the Maritsa (Meriç) River on the two countries’ border. Now on the most wanted list of the Interior Ministry, Dumanlı’s escape was revealed by an investigation that suggested he hid in the back of a truck owned by a printing press belonging to the Zaman newspaper in which he served as the editor-in-chief in 2015.
In eight years, Dumanlı moved a lot to avoid detection and moved between different states. Sabah’s investigation found out that since June 2021, Dumanlı has been living in Hillsborough, New Jersey, a small township in Somerset County, in a $600,000 home. The house is also listed as the address of a company he apparently owned.
He was a powerful FETÖ insider as the head of the terrorist group’s now-defunct mouthpiece. Dumanlı reportedly kept his clout over the years and even rose through the ranks, as he was appointed to the FETÖ "High Council" by the group’s leader Fetullah Gülen, according to unconfirmed reports earlier this year. Reclusive elsewhere, Dumanlı was not so visible online, hosting a Youtube show twice a week with fellow FETÖ member Levent Kenez, entitled "Exit." His rise in the group has irked fellow FETÖ members, including Ahmet Dönmez, a Sweden-based former staff of Zaman who is known for his social media videos critical of upper FETÖ echelons.
Türkiye issued multiple arrest warrants for Dumanlı in the past and seized his assets for a string of crimes related to FETÖ. Dumanlı faces prison terms, from aggravated life imprisonment to terms up to 78 years for his involvement in FETÖ plots. His name came up in trials of FETÖ members illegally wiretapping critics of the terrorist group through FETÖ's infiltrators in law enforcement, as well as a plot to imprison prominent names of the sports world in a match-fixing trial orchestrated by FETÖ-linked judiciary members. Among the list of crimes he is accused of includes attempted murder, forgery of official documents and violation of the privacy of communications.
An unknown number of FETÖ members, mostly high-ranking figures, fled Türkiye when the coup attempt was thwarted. A large number of the group's members had already left the country prior to the coup attempt after Turkish prosecutors launched investigations into other crimes of the terrorist group. 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 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 subject of most extradition requests. Türkiye has sent several extradition requests for Gülen to Washington so far, but unfortunately, has seen little progress on this subject. Gülen, who arrived in the U.S. in 1999, currently lives in a luxurious retreat in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania. He never leaves the well-guarded compound, but occasionally gives interviews to 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 been raised in bilateral meetings between Turkish and American officials in phone calls, letters and other exchanges.