Turkey begins proceedings to extradite former PYD leader arrested in Czech Republic

Source: Xinhua| 2018-02-26 01:54:16|Editor: yan
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ANKARA, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Turkey announced Sunday to start legal proceedings to extradite Salih Muslim, former leader of the outlawed Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD), to Turkey following his arrest in Czech Republic.

Muslim was detained Saturday in Prague, the Czech capital, after Turkish government issued an Interpol "red notice," reports said.

The Turkish Justice Ministry confirmed Sunday that it has begun the proceedings of the extradition of Muslim to Turkey.

The arrest of the 67-year-old Syrian Kurdish leader came as Turkey is carrying out a major military offensive against the U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters of PYD in the Syrian northwestern enclave of Afrin.

Salih Muslim, co-leader of the PYD in Syria until 2017, attended a press conference in the Czech capital on Saturday where he accused Turkey of carrying out "atrocities" in the PYD-controlled territory of Afrin.

Turkey denies any "atrocities," insisting that civilians are excluded from the targets of its air-and-ground incursion launched more than a month ago.

Interpol "red notices" are put out by the organization either at its own initiative or following requests from Interpol member states to alert others about an individual's arrest.

Turkey's ministries were working to secure the extradition of Muslim, said Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag.

Speaking to the press, Bozdag said the Turkish and Czech foreign ministers would discuss the issue on the phone.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday at a public rally that he "hopes that the Czech Republic will extradite this man to allow justice to be done."

Czech authorities stated that a court will decide whether Muslim will be officially arrested, and the court decision will be conveyed immediately to the Turkish officials, Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Turkish Justice Ministry and the General Directorate of Security said that procedures have started for Muslim's extradition to Turkey where he would face "terrorism" charges.

Turkey, which regards the PYD and its military wing, the People's Protection Units (YPG) ,as offshoots of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), issued red notices for Muslim and 47 high-ranking PKK members in November 2016.

PKK, listed as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union, has waged a bloody insurgency in Turkey since 1984.

A further red notice was issued on Feb. 13, which included Muslim on the most wanted list and offered a 4-million-Turkish-lira (1.05 million U.S. dollars) bounty for him.

Muslim was elected co-chair of the PYD in 2010 and had led the party, along with co-chair Asya Abdullah, as Syria plunged into civil war. He was replaced in 2017.

Turkey launched an operation into Afrin on Jan. 20 with the aim of driving the PYD and its militia out of the enclave.

At the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Turkey wanted to negotiate with Syrian Kurds and met with Muslim several times in Ankara. However, the meetings did not achieve major outcomes.

PKK resumed armed attacks in July 2015 and the Turkish authorities accused the PYD and YPG of providing PKK with fighters, arms and equipment.

"This individual was lying to the media about our operation in Syria. He travelled to several destinations in Europe and was spotted there. Our officials contacted relevant counterparts of European countries to ask for his detention," a source close to the government told Xinhua.

On Saturday, Muslim tweeted images of children he claimed to be killed in Turkey's military operation in Syria, accusing Erdogan of being a "child killer."

In addition to the attacks targeting Turkey, the PYD and the YPG have been accused by Ankara of attacking civilians and political opponents in areas under their control in northern Syria.

The U.S. military support to the PYD and YPG to help fight the militant group Islamic State (IS) in Syria has recently created a major rift between Turkey and the U.S., two NATO partners.

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