Turkey: Organized Crime Leader Serkan Kurtuluş Arrested After Extradition

Organized crime leader Serkan Kurtuluş, who was wanted with a red notice, was arrested in Argentina in 2020 and brought to Turkey after extradition proceedings. Kurtuluş was arrested by the İzmir 3rd Heavy Penal Court. Serkan Kurtuluş claimed that he had been living abroad for about 10 years, and had been detained in Argentina for 6 years and 2 months and in Georgia for 8 months, and that he was not aware of the allegations and the case.Arguing that the period of detention in Turkey cannot exceed 5 years, Kurtuluş said, "I have been detained in the countries I mentioned above for a total of 7 years. Considering my detention period, I request to be tried without arrest."The public prosecutor requested the arrest of the defendant due to the current evidence, the allegations against him, and the risk of escape. The court board also decided to arrest the defendant, taking into account that the defendant had been a fugitive since the investigation phase and that there were strong indications that he had committed the crime.