The Romanian Craiova Criminal Court on Wednesday released Zülfiye Denise Bilgin, a suspected PKK terrorist and a reporter for the PKK-affiliated Sterk TV who was detained in September at the Romanian border on the grounds of suspicion while she was en route to Greece from Belgium. Previously, Ankara had issued a "red notice" for Bilgin and requested her extradition from the Romanian government.

After the Romanian government refused to extradite Bilgin, a Romanian court released her following the hearing, which sparked controversy and is likely to sour relations between Bucharest and Ankara.

A "red notice" had been issued for her based on her alleged participation in a terrorist attack in Turkey. Even though Bucharest refused to extradite her despite Ankara's request, two police officers for whom Ankara had issued extradition requests were detained in February in Romania and returned to Turkey on March 26.

Ankara has been experiencing difficulties with EU member states over the extradition of suspected PKK terrorists detained in their respective countries. According to a security source who accepted to share information with Anadolu Agency on the condition anonymity said that EU member states have rejected the extradition of 657 suspected PKK terrorists since 1984. In addition, 227 were granted refugee status, which ruled out the possibility of their extradition to Turkey. Among EU member states refusing to return suspected PKK members, Germany has so far proven to be the most problematic country. Berlin alone has rejected more than 300 requests from Turkey.