ISIL suspect sought with red notice at large again after extradition to Turkey

Mesut Hasan Benli – ANKARA

A fugitive suspect in the 2015 Ankara train station attack, sought with a red notice for links to the Islamic State of Levant (ISIL), was captured by Georgian police in 2017 and extradited to Turkey, but only two days later, he was spotted again trying to enter Georgia, the Turkish Justice Ministry has said.

“As he [Nusret Yılmaz] was attempting to enter Georgia through the Sarp border gate in the mid-2017, the Georgian police determined there was an arrest warrant against him and extradited him to our country. But two days later, the person in question attempted to enter Georgia once again by legal means through the Sarp border gate and was not accepted into Georgia,” said a letter sent by the Justice Ministry to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on Feb. 1.

The letter indicated Yılmaz was being sought with a red notice from Interpol and when authorities tried to access the relevant data on his entry to and exit from Turkey, the system gave an “error.”

The Ankara bombing was the deadliest terror attack carried out in Turkey by ISIL, with suicide bombers targeting NGOs and supporters of left-wing parties holding a peace rally outside the capital’s main train station, weeks ahead of the Nov. 1, 2015 general election.

Following the attack, charges against 36 ISIL suspects were filed at the Ankara Fourth Heavy Penalty Court.

On April 5, 2016, a warrant was issued against fugitive suspect Yılmaz over charges of being a “member of an armed terror organization.” However, Yılmaz has still been at large since then.