A well-known figure of terrorist group FETÖ was photographed by Turkish media for the first time in Sweden, amid calls by Türkiye to the Scandinavian country to extradite terrorist suspects
Abdullah Bozkurt, a former journalist affiliated with the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) who was indicted in the 2016 assassination of Russian envoy in Ankara Andrei Karlov, was sighted in Salem, in Sweden's Stockholm County. Sweden is among the countries Türkiye repeatedly calls for the extradition of terrorist suspects, including members of FETÖ and PKK.
Bozkurt, who worked as the Ankara representative of the now-defunct Today’s Zaman, the English-language mouthpiece of the terrorist group, is among the FETÖ suspects wanted by Turkish authorities. He disappeared after the coup attempt by the terrorist group’s military infiltrators, which was foiled thanks to public resistance. He emerged in Sweden later and founded Nordic Monitor, a black propaganda website publishing fake news about Türkiye. The website was behind the exposure of Turkish intelligence personnel working in Libya.
An investigation into the murder of Karlov on Dec. 19, 2016, revealed that off-duty police officer Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, a FETÖ member, had ties to Bozkurt. Bozkurt is accused of arranging accommodation for Altıntaş before the assassination and "inciting" him to commit the murder. A former FETÖ member who collaborated with authorities and confessed to the plot three years after the murder has told investigators that Bozkurt was also tasked with online propaganda to vindicate FETÖ from its role in the murder. Three days before the assassination, Bozkurt notoriously wrote a social media post, claiming embassies in Türkiye were "no longer safe."
In 2018, Bozkurt set up Nordic Monitor, which released some 12,000 articles and podcasts targeting Türkiye, particularly its intelligence services, with disinformation.
Bozkurt, reportedly tracked down by Russia's intelligence service, had his registered address removed from Swedish registries to go into hiding after claiming three people assaulted him in 2020 outside his home. He apparently lives in a house on Mosshagestigen street in Salem and rarely goes out, sometimes once in a month. Bozkurt also apparently changed his image to avoid detection, growing a beard.