Turkish mafia sheltering in Kosovo is disturbing Erdogan government

Peker has offered no evidence of his charges. It is believed that he is currently found in Dubai.

What are Peker's charges?

Through a series of social networking videos, Peker, has made claims on corruption, drug trafficking and hiding murders against ruling party figures in Turkey, saying there have been close ties between senior Turkish officials with underground persons, the Associated Press agency (AP) broadcast.

His claims turn decades ago into events, and he offers no evidence of them. But through its monologues, which last for hours in published videos, he portrays himself as a beacon. The publications occur at an unfriendly time for Turkey's president, Recep Tayip Erdogan, whose party has already noted a decline in support based on opinion research, writes The Guardian.

Even though traditional Turkish media have had time to record the seven episodes of videos published by Pecker in YouTube from 12 promised in total on different platforms, however, the videos have managed to get more than 30 million hits.

Sitting at a table in a hotel room, with a gold collar around his neck and carefully placed books and notes before him, Peker has spoken on many topics and persons, offering dramatic evidence of crimes committed in the name of elected officials, and using the legal terminology, which may indicate that his claims have been compiled in a way that could be material in court.

Step by step, the Turkish mafia through its confession has created a view of wide co-operation between organised crime networks and senior officials in Turkey.

He has so far targeted Turkey's Interior Minister, Sulejman Soylu.

In the video, the organised crime boss claimed he had a close relationship with Interior Minister Soylu, who, he says, offered him security information and warned him of an investigation of his group.

Peker also confirmed that Soylu had sought his help in an effort to defeat a rival group within the ruling party (The Justice and Development Party). In some television interviews, Soylu has denied claims.

In his latest video, Peker has charged Erka Yildirim, son of former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, that he had travelled to Venezuela to find possible drug smuggling routes. Former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim denied it, insisting that his son, who heads a transport company, had travelled to Macau on a humanitarian mission to distribute tools and tests against COVID-19.

The mafia boss has also accused former Interior Minister Mehmet Agar and his son Tolga Agar, a lawmaker from the ruling Justice and Development Party. Peker claimed Tolga Agar was involved in the rape and suspicious death of a Kazakh journalist, Yeldana Kaharman. Lawmaker Agar has dismissed the charges.

Peker has also said a former lieutenant colonel and a senior Turkish intelligence service official (MIT) ordered the murder of a Turkish Cypriot journalist in 1996.

Peker claims he was involved in crimes, saying his people attacked the offices of a newspaper in 2015 and threatened academics who sought peace in Turkey's long conflict with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Erdogan's Reactions

Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan said Wednesday (26 May) that Peker's accusations are a plot against Turkey. He vowed to fight criminal gangs.

Erdogan said he supports Interior Minister Sulejman Soylu and lawmaker Yildirim.

The Turkish president called video publication a “clever operation” to his leadership and Turkey.

We will destroy these games and plots. We will follow members of criminal gangs around the world”, Erdogan said in a speech to members of his ruling party.

Peker, who is believed to be currently living in Dubai, has not provided until now evidence to support his claims.

The Turkish opposition has called for the investigation into Peker's claims.

Ahmet Davutoglu, a leader of the opposition party and Erdogan's former ally who had served as prime minister from 2014 to 2016, called for a parliamentary investigation of the charges and questioned the president's support for Minister Soylu.

If President Erdogan believes in Soylu's innocence, he should have said so on the first day. Not after 25 days”, Davutoglu said.

Mafie Peker's charges have not yet touched “Brother Taip”, as he calls the president. But targeting his narrow circle signals that Erdogan will be the ultimate goal.

“The question of the legitimacy or position of Peker does not justify silence or impunity”, Erol Onderoglu, Turkey's representative for Reporters Without Borders, told AFP.

Who is Sedat Peker and his ties to Kosovo

Peker, 49, has held several prison sentences in Turkey.

Peker is believed to have fled Turkey last year after an operation against his group began.

It is unclear why the mafia boss, who has backed Erdogan by organising political gatherings in his favor and making threats against his opponents, has turned against the government.

Peker claims he was forced to speak after his wife and two daughters were mistreated during a police attack on their home.

Radio Free Europe on April 15th He did research. about Sedat Peker's past and his ties to Kosovo.

Peker, who in Turkey is considered one of the most important members of the Mafia operations since the 1990s, has also found refuge in Kosovo and other Western Balkan countries in the past two years.

Peker has a temporary permission to stay in Kosovo, and recently, he has also been equipped with a passport of northern Macedonia, with false identity. During his stay in Kosovo, he has sometimes met with several officials from Kosovo.

In a scripture published in February 2019, the Nordic Monitor organisation describes Pseker as the most powerful person in the Turkish mafia. Nordic Monitor is an online news page and a feature page, run by Nordic Monitoring Research Network Centered in Stockholm. This media covers extremist religious, ideological and ethnic movements and radical groups, with a particular focus on Turkey.

In 1997, Peker was charged with a murder that led him to flee to Romania, but a few months later, a court in Turkey found him innocent.

As the Turkish-language BBC reports, an ongoing investigation into organised crime in the early 2000s led to Peker's arrest five years later.

At the end of the trial, Peker was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the criminal act “Forging an armed terrorist group”, but his sentence was reduced and he was released in 2014.

After leaving Turkey in the last two years, Peker found refuge once in Montenegro, once in Albania, at times in northern Macedonia and in part in Kosovo, where there is still a temporary permit with which he was equipped in 2014.

His residence permit is valid until December 29, 2021.

According to the Kosovo Ministry of Internal Affairs, Peker has recently entered Kosovo's territory on January 18th, 2021 and left in Albania after just two days.

Media in northern Macedonia had reported that Peker was arrested the same day because of violations of his residence permit and that he was deported to Kosovo.

It was then reported that Sedat Peker had Kosovo citizenship, which was denied by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In January of this year, through a response, the MPB explained that Sedat Peker did not have Kosovo citizenship, but confirmed that he has a temporary residence permit, with which he was equipped in 2014.

Radio Free Europe, on 12 April, 2021, has sent to the Ministry of Interior Affairs of Kosovo several questions about the manner of the equipment with temporary residence permits, the introductions to Kosovo territory, as well as the fact that Peker is being investigated by Kosovo institutions.

The MPB has also been asked whether North Macedonia authorities or Turkey have called for co-operation with Kosovo to identify Peker's whereabouts.

This institution has not responded. So has the State Attorney.

In a brief response, Kosovo Police have provided. This institution, on April 13th, 2021, has said it cannot share information on Sedat Peker's introductions, as this, according to them, conflicts with the personal data law.

While in Kosovo, Peker has also met with politicians there. Flirim Damka, leader of the Turkish Democratic Party in Kosovo, now Regional Development Minister, in the past There were several meetings. With Sedat Pseker. On the Internet are several photos in which Peker is seen accompanied by Minister Damka.

At one of the meetings that took place between Peker and Damka, the former deputy minister of Internal Affairs in Kosovo, Yildiray Bayram, who is also a member of the Turkish community in Kosovo, was at the time.

In 2019, Peker also visited the Mamushha municipality, which is inhabited mainly by members of the Turkish community. It is officially hosted by the mayor, Abdelhadi Krasnic. During another visit to Kosovo, Peker had met with Elez Khan Chairman Rufki Suma. In a reaction to him, Suma had denied knowing or having information about Sedat Seker before meeting him. / REL