Greek Court Approves Extradition Of Wanted Turkish Businessman
Source: Balkan Insight
The Greek Council of State has approved a previous court decision allowing for the extradition to Turkey of the Turkish businessman and fugitive Ali Yesildag.
The Council of State rejected all the claims of the 54-year-old, who had argued that his extradition to Turkey made it possibile that he could face other criminal charges there as well as inhumane treatment. It upheld the decision of the Deputy Minister of Justice for his extradition.
“The relevant regulations [on extradition] do not contradict the Constitution, EU law. and international law,” the Council of State said on July 15; a decision which the media published on July 23.
Yeşildag, a well-known businessman and alleged former associate of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, now wanted in Turkey, was arrested in Evros, Greece in November 2023, while trying to enter Greece illegally.
He was arrested based on an Interpol arrest warrant issued by Turkey.
According to the Interpol Red Notice, as the media outlet Iefimerida wrote, on December 5, 1986, in prison in Bursa, Turkey, he murdered a fellow prisoner. Earlier, on June 1, 1985, in Istanbul, he had reportedly attempted to rob a store owner at gunpoint.
Yesildag has been in prison in Greece since last November but was seeking political asylum over his revelations of alleged corruption in the Turkish government. But the Thrace Court of Appeals in February approved his extradition, a decision which the Greek Supreme Court also ratified.
Subsequently, he appealed to the Council of State, requesting annulment of the decision of the Deputy Minister of Justice which ratified his extradition.
Yesildag was born in 1961 in Rize province, also Turkish President Erdogan’s birthplace. He was Erdogan’s cellmate and reported bodyguard when Erdogan was imprisoned in 1999 for reading a poem.
Yesildag and his brother, Hasan Yesildag, were involved in several crimes but maintained close ties to the Erdogan family.
He ran several companies working in the food and construction industries and became a wealthy businessman while Erdogan ruled the country. For unknown reasons, he later parted ways with his own family, and with Erdogan.
The original article: belongs to Balkan Insight .
