Two wanted suspects with international arrest warrants were brought to Türkiye from Armenia, the Interior Ministry announced on Sunday, after cooperation with Yerevan.
The ministry released a photo of Ercan Yılmaz and İbrahim Kaymak aboard a plane among masked members of Turkish police en route to Türkiye.
Ercan Yılmaz was linked to notorious mobster Barış Boyun, who was captured in Italy last year. His gang, based in the northern province of Ordu, was subject to a series of operations last year by Turkish police across the country.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said that Yılmaz has been at large for the past 15 years, had 43 separate arrest warrants across Türkiye and was on Interpol’s most wanted list for the past 14 years. Kaymak has been on the run for the past six years fleeing 10 arrest warrants issued by Türkiye and an international arrest warrant issued one year ago. The minister said in a social media post that efforts of Justice and interior ministries led to their arrests in Armenia and subsequent extradition. Yerlikaya thanked Tigran Dadunts, deputy justice minister of Armenia, for his cooperation in the arrest and extradition of two men.
Türkiye and Armenia have had strained relations since the latter’s independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The two countries have taken steps toward normalization in recent years, though the process has been slow. Such extradition processes between two countries are rare.
Ankara seeks closer cooperation against organized crime and terrorism from abroad amid efforts to stamp out the so-called mafia. Under Yerlikaya, the country launched a renewed crackdown on criminal gangs, forcing notorious mobsters to flee the country. “Turf wars,” which have been prevalent in the country, even spilled over into countries organized crime figures escaped into, such as Greece, where six people, allegedly members of Barış Boyun’s gang, were killed in Athens by their rivals in 2023.
