Interpol, an international crime control organization, has canceled the red notice for Salih Muslim, the former co-chair of the Syrian-Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), US-based Voice of America (VOA) news agency reported on Monday.
A total of 144 red notices, including Muslim’s, were canceled by Interpol for suspects in a deadly attack in Ankara, Turkey’s capital, in March 2016.
Turkey accused Muslim of being involved in an attack by an explosive-laden vehicle in central Ankara which left 37 people dead and dozens more injured.
The PYD leader was also accused of negatively affecting national unity and integrity, deliberate murder, damaging public property and transferring dangerous materials.
The Turkish interior ministry has previously offered a bounty of nearly $1 million dollars for Muslim’s arrest as he is listed by Ankara as a most wanted terrorist.
A high court in Ankara filed a case against the Syrian Kurdish leader for the deadly attack, issuing an arrest warrant and requesting that Interpol issue a red notice against him.
In February 2018, Muslim was detained in the capital of Czech Republic, Prague, at the request of Turkey which demanded Muslim’s extradition but was released shortly thereafter.
According to the VOA report, Interpol also rejected Turkey’s latest requests for red notices for 352 people.
Mahmut Vefa, an attorney for one of the 144 suspects, told VOA that Interpol was no longer taking Turkey’s accusations seriously and most consider them to be baseless.
“Turkey acts arbitrarily and with disregard for the law, and as a result, Interpol rejects most of Turkey’s demands. This shows international law and politics do not consider as terrorists those deemed by Turkey to be such,” said Vefa.
Turkey deems the PYD and its armed wing, the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), terrorist organizations over their alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which has waged a decades-long armed insurgency against the country.
The YPG is known for fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria alongside the international coalition.
Source: IPA News
