Justice minister asks Greece to extradite Bayğara gang leader

Turkey’s justice minister has asked Greece to hand over the alleged leader of the Bayğara organized-crime group and two other suspects, making the extradition cases a central issue in bilateral judicial cooperation.

Akın Gürlek raised the cases of Ramazan Bayğara, Nedim Sorguç and Ali Yeşildağ during a teleconference with Greek Justice Minister Giorgos Floridis. The ministers also discussed Turkey-Greece relations, cross-border organized crime and the countries’ extradition requests.

“

I believe that having a great deal of shared cultural heritage is an important part of these strong ties.

Floridis said Greek judicial authorities had issued extradition decisions in all three cases. The handovers of Bayğara and Sorguç, however, had not taken place because of interim measures issued by the European Court of Human Rights.

Gürlek said Turkey and Greece were not only neighbors and allies but also shared strong historical and cultural ties. He referred to the February 11, 2026 meeting of the Turkey-Greece High-Level Cooperation Council in Ankara, where Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed a strong desire to improve relations.

“

We want this strong political dialogue to be reflected in our judicial relations as well, and we wish to continue our mutual dialogue through contacts held by video conference or face to face.

The Turkish minister said that political dialogue should also extend into the judicial sphere, through video conferences and face-to-face meetings. He warned that organized-crime groups increasingly use technology and social-media platforms to recruit young people. Their activities range from drug trafficking and money laundering to murder, robbery and threats, he said.

Gürlek added that Turkey had sent a circular on combating organized crime to the chief public prosecutors’ offices at 75 heavy penal court centers across all 81 provinces. Because these groups operate across borders, he argued, enforcement cannot remain confined to one country and requires strong judicial cooperation.

“

In particular, combating cross-border organized crime has become a common area of increasing importance for our countries.