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Ankara Urges Berlin to Hand Over Wanted “Terrorists” | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (R) meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Ankara, Turkey February 8, 2016, in this handout photo provided by the Presidential Palace. REUTERS/Yasin Bulbul


Ankara-Turkey has asked Germany to hand over a group of people who are suspected of belonging to terrorist organizations as Ankara accuses Berlin of providing support for terrorists.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused Berlin of not responding to 4,500 dossiers sent by Turkey on suspects.

Turkish officials provided additional information – to a German delegation visiting Turkey – about people they believe to have links to terrorist groups, Interior Ministry sources said on Tuesday.

The material has been sent to the Federal Crime Office and the BfV domestic intelligence agency for further investigation, the sources said.

It was not immediately clear if the material included additional individuals or provided further information about suspected terrorist activities.

Germany last week opened a second investigation into suspected spying by Turkey, following media reports that Turkish intelligence had given German officials a list of more than 300 supposed supporters of Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accused of masterminding a failed July 15 coup.

The list included telephone numbers and photographs, including some that may have been taken by hidden surveillance cameras.

Erdogan said that he proposed the issue to German Chancellor Angela Merkel during her visit to Ankara in February, noting that Turkey handed over some militants to Germany. Yet when Turkey asks Berlin to deport suspects, the authorities do not reply and based on that Turkey will act likewise.

Tensions are running high between the two NATO allies ahead of an April 16 referendum in Turkey that proposes expanding the powers of Erdogan.

Berlin infuriated Ankara by cancelling several campaign rallies by Turkish ministers on German soil, drawing accusations from Turkey of “Nazi” tactics.

On the other hand, one village guard was killed in an operation against outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants in the eastern province of Bingol, according to security sources.

The guard was killed during an ongoing operation launched against PKK militants in the Genc district, said a source.

Three other village guards and one security official were slightly wounded in the operation and taken to hospital for treatment.

These clashes happened after Bingol Governor’s Office imposed curfews on seven villages and eight neighborhoods in Genc.

Meanwhile, a total of six PKK militants were killed in Turkey’s eastern province of Bitlis on April 4, officials said.

According to a statement by the Bitlis Governor’s Office, Bitlis Provincial Gendarmerie Command guards first killed five militants and later another militant in the Tatvan district’s rural Anadere area during the same operation.

In addition, police have arrested one suspect allegedly linked to the PKK, a judicial source said.

According to the source, the suspect was arrested in the Aegean province of Izmir, where gendarmerie units carried out an operation under an investigation by Izmir prosecutors in order to catch the suspect, believed to have spread terrorist propaganda online.

The suspect, identified only as HB, was caught in his home in the Torbali district.

Forces also seized 36 CDs, one memory stick, one laptop, two external drives, one video cassette, two cellphones and one sim card as evidence.