Former prosecutor Öz seeks asylum from Germany: Daily

ISTANBUL

DHA photo

Former prosecutor Zekeriya Öz has sought political asylum from Germany following an arrest warrant issued for him after he headed Turkey’s biggest corruption investigation involving the sons of four former ministers in 2013, daily Sözcü reported.

The daily also quoted unidentified sources as saying Öz had given several documents about the Dec. 17 and 25, 2013, massive corruption probe to the German Federal Public Prosecutor’s office. The daily also said the claims Öz had flown to Canada form Germany were incorrect.

On Aug. 19, the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul’s Bakırköy district asked the Justice Ministry to request Interpol issue a red notice to arrest Öz and another 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 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 the 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. 

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.