Turkey asks UAE to repatriate mob leader Peker -Anadolu

A person watches a video of Sedat Peker, a convicted Turkish mob boss whose on-line movies seen over 100 million instances – by which he has made uncorroborated allegations about high Turkish officers near President Tayyip Erdogan, at a restaurant in Istanbul, Turkey June 14, 2021. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

ANKARA, Feb 23 (Reuters) – Turkey has despatched a request to the United Arab Emirates to detain and repatriate Sedat Peker, a convicted Turkish mob boss, after Interpol issued a crimson discover for him, the state-owned Anadolu information company mentioned on Wednesday.

Peker, 50, rose to prominence within the Nineteen Nineties as a gangland determine and was sentenced to 14 years in jail in 2007 for crimes together with forming and main a prison gang. He was launched a number of years in the past.

Turkish authorities started one other investigation into Peker in April final yr. Quickly after, he drew thousands and thousands of viewers on YouTube when he started sharing movies by which he detailed corruption allegations in opposition to high officers in President Tayyip Erdogan’s authorities. Erdogan has denied the allegations.

The movies had been filmed within the UAE, with which Turkey has not too long ago labored to fix long-strained relations. Reuters was not instantly capable of verify whether or not Peker is at the moment within the Gulf Arab nation. learn extra

Peker was questioned by Dubai police in June however was later launched. He has not posted any movies since final summer time, saying that the UAE had requested him to chorus from doing so.

He had additionally been talking to journalists who’ve relayed his allegations of corruption on social media. Though he was lively on Twitter even after the movies stopped, Peker has not tweeted for the reason that finish of November.

When requested concerning the media studies, a spokesperson for Interpol, the worldwide police company, referred Reuters to Turkish authorities for info. Istanbul prosecutors declined to verify the studies.

In Peker’s movies, he made allegations concerning suspicious deaths, rape and drug dealing, and alleged hyperlinks to officers near Erdogan, particularly Inside Minister Suleyman Soylu.

Political events have sought to capitalise on the dispute, with the primary opposition calling for Soylu to resign.

Earlier this month, Erdogan was welcomed with a lavish ceremony within the UAE as he visited the Gulf nation to mark an finish to the interval of animosity. The nations signed a flurry of financial agreements throughout his journey. learn extra

In November, Interpol elected Emirati Inspector Common Ahmed Nasser Al-Raisi as its president, regardless of accusations from rights teams that he did not act on allegations of torture of detainees within the UAE. The UAE authorities has denied such accusations. learn extra

Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen; Enhancing by Jonathan Spicer and Mark Heinrich

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