Turkey asks Germany to deport Syrian Kurdish leader

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Ankara has requested German authorities arrest and deport a prominent Syrian Kurdish leader, Turkish state-run media reported on Monday.

Turkey’s request came after its intelligence services spotted former Syrian Kurdish leader of the ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD), Salih Muslim in Berlin over the weekend, Anadolu Agency reported.

Muslim was released from custody in the Czech Republic last week after being detained for three days on a Turkish arrest warrant. He was requested by the court to stay within European Union territory and be available for hearings in his extradition case.

Turkey had previously advertised a $1 million bounty for Muslim’s arrest.

Muslim was the co-leader of the PYD from 2010 until 2017. Since 2017, he has been working as the foreign relations representative for the Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM) Coalition, which rules Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava).

Ankara views the PYD, and its military wing, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), and its Women's Protection Units (YPJ), as a ‘terrorist’ group and an extension of the outlawed PKK, a group fighting a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish government in Turkey.

Editing by Nadia Riva