Şahan was being sought in connection with the 28 February post-modern coup case and has allegedly been living in Romania's capital Bucharest for the last ten years. The 66-old retired colonel reportedly requested asylum from the Romanian government three years ago.
The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) issued a memorandum and forced the coalition government, led by the now defunct Welfare Party ("Refah Partisi" in Turkish), to step down on 28 February 1997.
Since then, the 1997 military memorandum has been referred to as 'Post-modern coup', in reference to the fact that during the coup process, media organs and non-governmental organizations played important roles against the government.
At the time of the coup, Şahan was serving as head of the intelligence agency of the Turkish naval force.
Some 77 senior Turkish army officers have faced trial for their alleged role in the 28 February coup. Some of the trials came to an end, whereas some are still ongoing. There are currently no suspects left who are still imprisoned.
