How Balkan drug lords become Turkish citizens to avoid extradition

Croatian drug lord Nenad Petrak obtained Turkish citizenship in 2022, when ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmaker Suleiman Soylu was interior minister, Birgün newspaper reported. Interior Minister Ali Gerlikaja wrote in "X" on November 18 that Petrak, one of Europe's notorious drug lords, who was wanted on an INTERPOL red notice by Croatian authorities, was arrested in an operation in the Üsküdar area of Istanbul. According to Turkish media, Petrak was one of several international criminals who obtained Turkish citizenship during Soylu's tenure. After buying a house in Istanbul's Bosniak neighborhood of Yenibosna for $250,000, he became a Turkish citizen in December 2022 and took the name Nenat Çelik.

In order to obtain Turkish citizenship, the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MİT), the intelligence department of the General Directorate of Security and the intelligence unit of the Directorate of Migration Management must conduct an investigation. There is also a requirement to contact the state intelligence service in the case of granting the applicant citizenship. The fact that Petrak had become a Turkish citizen was concealed when he was arrested on November 18.

Soylu posted on his X account on Friday accusations by several journalists about drug traffickers who obtained Turkish citizenship during his term, describing the accusations against him as "slander, lies and baseless accusations". He said it was legally and practically impossible for someone wanted on an INTERPOL red notice to obtain citizenship or even residency.

The newspaper also writes that Jovan Vukotic, the suspected leader of the notorious Skaljari drug gang, who was killed in Turkey last year, Montenegrin mafia boss Zeljko Bojanic, suspected drug dealer Sani Al Murdaa, a Bosnian citizen, and the partner of his Albanian counterpart, Flamur Sinanaj, had obtained Turkish citizenship.

Dutch drug lord Jos Leijdekkers and Rawa Majid, who is suspected to be the main leader of the Swedish criminal organization Foxtrot, are among those granted citizenship by Turkey during Soylu's tenure.

VICE World News reported in April, citing European law enforcement officials, that Europe's most wanted drug traffickers are increasingly avoiding arrest by becoming Turkish citizens. European law enforcement officials speaking to VICE worry that criminals linked to large-scale drug trafficking are taking advantage of Turkey's policy of granting citizenship to investors, while also taking advantage of the country's refusal to extradite its citizens. young people.

In 2018, Turkey lowered the financial and investment criteria for foreigners to become Turkish citizens in an effort to boost investment in the economy. The new regulations stipulated that foreigners could become citizens if they owned property worth $250,000 over three years, up from $1 million previously. The minimum investment required to obtain Turkish citizenship increased to $400,000 in 2022.

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