An arrest warrant was issued on Thursday for criminal gang leader Sedat Peker following a request from the Ankara Public Prosecutor's Office.
Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu last week filed a criminal complaint against Peker, calling for an inquiry into the allegations made by the media-savvy figure who has been convicted of mob-related crimes in the past.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday also pledged to fight organized crime syndicates, adamant that he would not let mob bosses threaten the atmosphere of peace and security in the country.
"Turkey will thwart these plots and will bring organized crime bosses to Turkey to face justice," the president said, in reference to a series of statements made by fugitive mob boss Peker, who has been releasing a series of videos in which he speaks about his organization and makes allegations about Turkish officials.
Peker, 49, rose to prominence in the 1990s as an underworld figure. He fled from Romania to Turkey in 1998 when two men, who were allegedly members of his gang, were convicted of murder. He was arrested in Turkey in late 1998 but released in 1999. He was once again sentenced for mob-related crimes in 2007.
Peker's name came up again in the infamous Ergenekon trials when prosecutors and police officers linked to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) imprisoned the group’s critics in sham trials. He was sentenced to 10 years but was released in 2014. In recent years, he became a prominent social media personality, gaining a sizeable following.
He initially fled to Montenegro but ended up traveling back and forth between Kosovo, North Macedonia and Montenegro. He then fled to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as the country does not have an extradition treaty with Ankara.
