Turkey has demanded that Moscow extradite Mihraç Ural, a suspected terrorist believed to be responsible for deadly attacks in Turkey five years ago who was among participants at the Syria congress in Sochi, Russia, earlier this week, the Anadolu news agency reported.
“We reacted immediately to this terrorist’s participation there and demanded an explanation from Russia,” Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told reporters on Thursday.
“We want this person’s immediate detention and extradition to Turkey.”
He said Ural is being sought under an Interpol red notice.
During a phone conversation on Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan voiced “discomfort” to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, about Ural’s presence in Sochi as he was not included on the list of invited delegates given to Turkey, said Çavuşoğlu.
The guarantor countries in the Syrian peace process — Russia, Iran and Turkey — held talks in Sochi on Monday and Tuesday.
Turkey had repeatedly insisted that while all segments of Syrian society would be represented, no terrorists or terrorist groups would be allowed.
“Actually, the name of this terrorist was not on the list that Russia gave us. If it had been, we would have objected beforehand,” said Çavuşoğlu.
He said Ural entered Russia with “fake documents.”
“We were uncomfortable with this,” he added, saying that Putin himself will look into the issue.
Turkey accuses Ural of launching attacks in May 2013 in the town of Reyhanlı in Turkey’s southern Hatay province that left 52 people dead.
Ural is the leader of the Turkish Peoples Liberation Party/Front (THKP/C), a pro-Syrian regime militia.