Greece’s highest administrative court, the Council of State, on Tuesday ruled in favor of extraditing to Turkey businessman Ali Yeşildağ, a former confidant of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who made shocking revelations about the president in the run-up to the elections in May 2023, the Greek Kathimerini newspaper reported.
Yeşildağ, who had significant family and professional connections with Erdoğan before accusing him of corruption, was arrested in November 2023 by Greek border guards in Evros for illegally crossing the Greek-Turkish border.
Following his arrest, the Bursa Public Prosecutor’s Office in western Turkey requested Yeşildağ’s extradition from Greece. He had been sentenced by Turkish courts to almost 20 years in prison for various crimes, including murder, kidnapping and possession of weapons.
In February the Thrace Court of Appeals upheld Yeşildağ’s extradition to Turkey. He subsequently appealed to the Council of State to overturn the deputy minister of justice’s decision to extradite him.
Yesildağ argued that extradition would expose him to additional charges and risks of torture as well as harsh and inhuman treatment. He claimed this was due to his fallout with Erdoğan and his public disclosure of financial scandals involving the Turkish president and other government officials.
However, the Council of State upheld the extradition decision, finding it consistent with both European and Greek law, and rejected Yeşildağ’s appeal.
The Yeşildağ family has a longstanding relationship with Erdoğan. Hasan Yeşildağ, the eldest brother, served as Erdoğan’s bodyguard during the latter’s imprisonment in 1999. Ali Yeşildağ parted ways with Erdoğan and his own family later due to disagreements.
Yeşildağ came to public attention with seven videos he had posted on the YouTube account of investigative journalist Cevheri Güven in the run-up to the general election in May 2023 after which Erdoğan secured yet another term as president.
He made explosive revelations of how the Erdoğan family made hundreds of millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains through front companies that on paper were run by their cronies but in reality belonged to themselves.
Yeşildağ was targeted by the government after his videos attracted widespread attention on social media, and an investigation was launched into him by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on charges of terrorist organization membership.
Turkey reportedly had an INTERPOL Red Notice issued for him due to a previous crime.
Yeşildağ, who was arrested in 2015 on the grounds that he had not served his full sentence for a crime he committed in 1986 and was released from prison in 2020 as part of measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic, said his arrest was a conspiracy against him to keep him silent and under control. He claimed his arrest took place with Erdoğan’s involvement when he wanted to part ways with his own family, which had deprived him of assets, and when his efforts to seek help from Erdoğan all failed.
Yeşildağ faced another arrest warrant issued in 2021 to serve the rest of his sentence, which, according to Turkey’s Justice Ministry, is four years.