Turkey seeks explanation from Russia over wanted militant Mihraç Ural’s participation in Sochi

ANKARA

Turkey on Jan. 30 sought an explanation from Russia over the participation of Mihraç Ural, the leader of an outlawed organization responsible for a deadly attack in the southern province of Hatay in 2013, in the recent Sochi conference.

The Turkish delegation in Sochi expressed unease about Ural’s presence at the congress, where he was attending despite not being on the list of invitees given to Ankara.

Diplomatic sources told the Hürriyet Daily News that the Turkish delegation “demanded an explanation” from Russia’s Defense and Foreign Ministries for Ural’s attendance. They added that the Russian authorities said they will investigate the issue and inform Turkey in due course.

Ural is the leader of a branch of of the People’s Liberation Party-Front (THKP-C), a pro-Syrian regime militia accused of being behind a spate of attacks in May 2013 in the town of Reyhanlı in Hatay that left 52 people dead.

Ural, originally a Turkish national, reportedly joined the regime’s ranks following the outbreak of the civil war in 2011 in Syria. An opposition group had claimed to have killed him back in 2016.