Ankara slams UK ruling on Akın İpek

ANKARA

Turkey on Nov. 29 criticized as “unacceptable and deeply disappointing” a British court ruling rejecting Turkey’s extradition request for three people accused of being members of the illegal FETÖ.

The London Westminster Magistrate Court’s decision to reject the extradition of Hamdi Akın İpek, Ali Çelik, Talip Büyük and Mustafa Yeşil was “entirely unsubstantiated,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hami Aksoy.

“Our expectation is the prompt return of these persons to Turkey in order to try them before Turkish courts,” Aksoy stated, adding that Ankara would continue its efforts towards this end.

Extradition request

He underlined that Turkey had “strongly emphasized” to British authorities that rejecting Ankara’s extradition request for the accused three people is unacceptable.

Turkey has the right to appeal the court’s verdict within 14 days.

İpek was detained in May in Britain after Turkey’s request for his extradition.

A court confiscated his passport and banned him from leaving London but released him on £50,000 ($66,000) bail, a common procedure in extradition cases in the U.K.

İpek and two other men are accused of a series of charges including fundraising for terrorism, fraud and conspiracy to launder proceeds of crime.

FETÖ is widely believed to have orchestrated the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016, which left 251 people killed and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara also accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.