Türkiye urges Greece not to become a haven for criminals
Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi has urged Greece to accelerate the extradition of organized crime suspects and members of groups Ankara considers terrorist organizations, saying no country should become a safe haven for criminals.
Çiftçi made the remarks during an official visit to Athens, where he met Greek Minister of Citizen Protection Michalis Chrisochoidis for talks on organized crime, terrorism, irregular migration and cross-border security cooperation.
“Greece should not be a place where criminals can seek refuge,” Çiftçi said, calling for closer coordination between the two countries’ law enforcement agencies.
Türkiye reports 625 crime groups dismantled
Çiftçi said Turkish authorities had conducted 1,741 operations against organized crime groups since the beginning of 2026, dismantling 625 groups, including 22 with international links.
He added that 8,170 members of organized crime groups had been arrested during the same period, while 35,819 people had been arrested in operations targeting drug trafficking.
According to the minister, newer criminal networks increasingly use social media and digital communication platforms to recruit members, coordinate activities and generate criminal proceeds.
He stressed that international cooperation was essential to identifying their leaders, disrupting their operations and securing the return of suspects who flee abroad.
Ankara seeks faster extraditions from Greece
Çiftçi said some alleged organized crime leaders detained in Greece had continued communicating with their networks and coordinating criminal activities while in custody.
He called on Athens to prevent such activities and speed up extradition procedures, arguing that returning suspects to Türkiye would demonstrate that Greece was not a refuge for wanted criminals.
The minister also raised concerns about extraditions being suspended at the final stage because of ongoing judicial proceedings in Greece or last-minute applications to the European Court of Human Rights.
Such developments, he said, undermine the predictability of extradition procedures and can encourage suspects to seek refuge abroad.
Çiftçi suggested that the two countries could use existing readmission agreement provisions and deportation mechanisms where the legal conditions are met.
He also called for faster information exchange concerning Turkish citizens applying for asylum in Greece, including through Interpol channels, to prevent asylum procedures from being misused by criminal suspects.
FETÖ and other groups discussed
The talks also covered organizations that Türkiye identifies as terrorist groups, including the PKK/PYD, Daesh, DHKP/C and FETÖ.
Çiftçi urged Greece to support Ankara’s efforts against FETÖ and extradite its members to Türkiye, arguing that the alleged misuse of refugee status by members of the organization could also raise public-order concerns for Greece and other countries.
He further called for measures to prevent organizations from exploiting the atmosphere created by Türkiye’s “Terror-free Türkiye” initiative to expand activities under what he described as lawful appearances.
Three-way cooperation on migration to expand
Çiftçi welcomed increased cooperation between Turkish and Greek law enforcement agencies, saying real-time information sharing had contributed to more operations against Turkish-linked organized crime networks in Greece.
He also highlighted progress under the trilateral mechanism established by Türkiye, Greece and Bulgaria in 2023 to address irregular migration.
The mechanism’s fourth meeting is scheduled to take place in Türkiye in November, with Ankara seeking to expand cooperation to cover broader security and law enforcement issues.
Çiftçi said closer coordination could help reduce irregular migration and the number of reported pushbacks.
He concluded that countries must work together to prevent criminals from exploiting borders and legal procedures to evade justice, stressing that stronger international cooperation was essential to tackling increasingly transnational criminal networks.
Source:Yenişafak
