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Türkiye aims to expand a Belgium-style "Joint Action Plan" against drugs and gangs across Europe to close the safe havens of fugitive crime bosses, Türkiye daily reported, after 714 suspects were brought back from 42 countries this year.
Ankara plans to present intelligence reports to European capitals that block extraditions on "human rights" or "fair trial" grounds, showing how the gangs threaten drug markets and street security, according to reporter Gamze Erdogan.
Gang members and leaders squeezed by Turkish crackdowns have made European countries their main refuge, the report said.
Fugitive bosses based in Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland and Italy try to run their operations remotely.
Türkiye recently signed the "Joint Action Plan" with Belgium covering the fight against drugs and gangs, which the newspaper described as one of the first links in combating a new generation of gangs. The goal is to spread the model across Europe, the report said.
On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Justice Minister Akin Gurlek and Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci met in Brussels with Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot, Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden, Security and Interior Minister Bernard Quintin and Asylum and Migration Minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt.
Turkish officials called on Belgium to take concrete measures against terrorist groups on its territory, strengthen judicial cooperation and step up efforts against organized crime and irregular migration.
This year, Turkish authorities carried out 1,675 operations against over 600 crime groups.
In one trial, Bahadir Akdag and Zafer Boyun were each sentenced to 12 life terms, while the files of fugitive leaders were separated, the newspaper reported.
Italy rejected two extradition requests for Baris Boyun, described as a gang leader based there, citing prison conditions and human rights, according to the report. Bayram Demir remains in custody in Milan.
Authorities are focusing on Tolga Gultepe, wanted on an Interpol Red Notice, as the alleged manager of the group’s drug and logistics network run via Georgia. Key figures Ercan Yilmaz and Ibrahim Kaymak were extradited from Armenia.
Gurkan Baltas and the Volkan Recber group are wanted along the Montenegro, Serbia and Greece route, the report said.
The Daltons crime group is also linked to an attack targeting Starlink satellites in Poland, the newspaper reported. Its leader, Beratcan Gokdemir, known as Can Dalton, is under house arrest in Russia.
Dalton's managers Sinan Memi, Atakan Avci and Aslan Alkan were brought back from Poland, Bulgaria and Ecuador, respectively. The group’s Europe heads, Furkan Yavuz and Caner Kocer, were killed in a shootout in Belgium, according to the report.
Casper's leader Ismail Atiz was arrested in Italy after being released in Germany and remains in custody under Türkiye’s extradition request. Ramazan Baygara, leader of an Adana-based gang, was formally extradited from Greece on July 31.
Redkitler leader Ferhat Delen was extradited from Georgia, and Sirinler leader Mehmet Sabri Sirin was arrested in the Netherlands. Cingeneler leader Umit Yalcin was wounded in Spain.
Cekdarlar leader Omer Baran Kandemir is allegedly hiding in the Netherlands, and Mesut Akturk, facing 96 years in prison, is elsewhere in Europe. Yaramislar managers Bayram and Mecit Yaramis continue to run the group’s drug network, the report said. Diplomatic contacts will continue, it added.
Ankara is also pursuing foreign fugitives on its own soil.
Justice Minister Gurlek said Saturday that U.S. national Richard James Schueler, subject of an Interpol Red Notice over an alleged $1 billion cryptocurrency fraud in the U.S. and Finland, was detained in Istanbul.
"U.S. citizen Richard James Schueler, who was reported (to our authorities) as having an Interpol Red Notice issued against him on allegations of carrying out a $1 billion crypto-asset fraud in the US and Finland, was apprehended and taken into custody in Istanbul,” Gurlek said on X, in a post titled "Türkiye will not be a safe haven for transnational criminals and wanted suspects."
Schueler and his wife were detained Wednesday in Besiktas, along with three alleged bodyguards. Searches at 15 addresses seized $7.15 million in cash, six crypto cold wallets, firearms and luxury goods, Gurlek said.
The Interior Ministry announced on Sunday that Kosovo-linked suspect Valmir Berisha, wanted by German authorities for "drug trafficking, threats and deprivation of liberty," was caught in Izmir in an operation coordinated by police and the National Intelligence Organization (MIT).
"We congratulate our heroic police, our Interpol Department, our MIT Presidency, our Izmir Provincial Police Department and all who contributed," the ministry said.
Istanbul police also caught Omer Guney, wanted on an Interpol Red Notice since 2014 and convicted of child sexual abuse and other crimes, on Oct. 21.
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