Turkey seeks red notice for two ex-prosecutors on the run

ISTANBUL

DHA photo

The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul’s Bakırköy district asked the Justice Ministry on Aug. 19 to request Interpol issue a red notice to arrest two former prosecutors wanted for attempting to overthrow the government.

Bakırköy Deputy Public Prosecutor Ömer Faruk Aydıner applied for the red notice to the Justice Ministry.
The move came after the Bakırköy 2nd Penal Court demanded the arrest of former prosecutors Zekeriya Öz, Celal Kara and Mehmet Yüzgeç.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor’s office said the passport of former prosecutor Yüzgeç expired in 2008 and he has not applied for a new passport since then. 

Öz fled to Armenia through Georgia on Aug. 10, some 12 hours before the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued an arrest warrant for him, Kara and Yüzgeç. The suspects have been accused of attempting to overthrow the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government by force and forming a criminal organization. 

Reports indicated Öz flew to Germany from Armenia on Aug. 11 without encountering any problems because the arrest warrant had not been issued in time. 

It remains unknown whether Germany was Öz’s final destination. 

Öz led probes into alleged coup plots, most significantly the controversial Ergenekon trials, during which he was criticized for human rights violations. 

He was also the prosecutor who launched the Dec. 17, 2013, graft probe, the country’s most extensive corruption investigation to date, which implicated senior government figures including former ministers Muammer Güler, Erdoğan Bayraktar, Egemen Bağış and Zafer Çağlayan.