- Nineteen prisoners use cutlery to break out of cells at Winchester prison
- France wants progress in Ukraine before Russia returns to G7
- Italy president begins talks to seek way out of government crisis
- Italian PM expected to resign as political chaos deepens
- Russia says US cruise missile test ‘regrettable’
- Kremlin - No date set for Normandy talks on Ukraine despite Macron meeting
- Egypt court hands out 6 death sentences on terror charges
- Putin says Russian nuclear explosion poses no threat
- Russian panel eyes alleged foreign interference in protests
- Gran Canaria wildfire triggers evacuation of thousands of people
- PM Johnson calls on Germany and France to compromise on Brexit
- Sudan's ex-president Bashir arrives at corruption trial
TEHRAN, November 29 - Turkey on Thursday lambasted an "unacceptable" decision by a British court to reject a request from Ankara to extradite a prominent businessman accused of providing financial support for the 2016 failed coup.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - British judge John Zani on Wednesday said the case against Akin Ipek, owner of the Koza-Ipek media conglomerate, was "politically motivated", according to his lawyers.
Ipek faces charges in Turkey of funding "terrorist" enterprises linked to the US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen.
Gulen is accused of ordering the July 2016 attempted overthrow of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan but he strongly denies any involvement.
Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said Turkey had "strongly emphasised to the British authorities" that the ruling was "unacceptable and deeply disappointing".
"The reasoning of the court to deny our extradition request is entirely unsubstantiated," Aksoy said in a statement, adding that Ankara expected the "prompt return" of suspects to then be tried before Turkish courts.
Judge Zani was quoted as saying that Ipek would face "a real risk of ill-treatment in the event of return", adding that recent events in the country "give this court little comfort that the rule of law has remained undisturbed".
Hours after the ruling on Wednesday, Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul also hit out at the "unacceptable" ruling in a series of tweets.
Source: AFP
Your Comment