The Turkish Ministry of Justice has demanded the extradition of Turkish football player Arif Erdem, after Erdem was spotted in the United States, NTV reported.

Arif Erdem is facing 15 years in prison on charges of membership to the Gülen movement, which Ankara maintains is behind the failed coup attempt of July 15, 2016.

Erdem was indicted in 2016, and another Turkish court had launched the procedure for his extradition in 2018, when he was assumed to be living in Greece.

The former player was photographed recently in Virginia.

Former star of Turkey’s national football team Hakan Şükür, who also left Turkey to live in the United States after he was indicted on similar charges, had mentioned Erdem’s name in a tweet in November last year, saying they were in the United States together.