Romania Refuses to Extradite Journalist to Turkey

Kamil Demirkaya at the Bucharest Appeal Court on Friday. Photo: George Calin/Inquam Photos
Kamil Demirkaya at the Bucharest Appeal Court on Friday. Photo: George Calin/Inquam Photos


Date posted: December 14, 2018

Ana Maria Luca

The Bucharest Appeal Court on Friday rejected a Turkish request to extradite a Turkish journalist, Kamil Demirkaya, known for his criticism of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.

Romanian police detained Demirkaya on December 5 on the basis of a warrant issued by the Ankara authorities.

The extradition request was related to accusations of terrorism and affiliations with President Erdogan’s arch-enemy, the exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Demirkaya was editor-in-chief of Zaman Bulgaria, a media outlet, between 2003 and 2011. He returned to Turkey but then moved to Bucharest with his family in 2016. He currently writes for Zaman Romania

“Romania, an EU member, this way proves its respect for human rights, democracy, and freedom of expression,” Zaman Romania said in a statement welcoming the ruling. 

Turkey has put strong pressure on Balkan countries to extradite critics of the government, or teachers working for schools linked to the Gulen movement, accusing them of supporting the failed coup against the Erdogan regime in July 2016.

In March, Kosovo controversially extradited six Turkish teachers to Turkey, although Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj insisted he had not been informed about this action.

Western countries routinely turn down such extradition requests as politically motivated and as an abuse of the international so-called “red warrant” system.


Source: Balkan Insight , December 14, 2018


Related News

Rhode Island’s latest refugees flee Turkey’s repressive regime

A new community of Turkish immigrants has taken root in Rhode Island. And its leading members, some of them refugees seeking political asylum in the United States, are spreading a message of tolerance and diversity through their work at Dialogue Foundation, a new organization with a headquarters near Wayland Square.

Prominent columnist Bağdat slams persecution of Hizmet

Popular daily columnist Hayko Bağdat called for a halt of the witch hunt against Hizmet and expressed the need for tolerance for all social groups in Turkey.

Gülen’s lawyer: a civilian structure demonized by fictitious slurs

Nurullah Albayrak, the lawyer of Muslim scholar Fethullah Gülen, rejected the Sabah daily’s headline story on Monday titled “Parallel Council,” saying pro-government outlets aim to distract attention from anti-government corruption assertions by making false claims about the Hizmet movement.

TUSKON: Media raids discourage foreign investors

Foreign investors will not come to a country where the media faces intense pressure, Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) President Rızanur Meral said, speaking in front of the Zaman daily offices in İstanbul on Tuesday.

Turkey’s largest charity group targeted

Turkey’s political Islamists, armed with abusive government powers, are deliberately and maliciously trying to strangle the country’s leading private charity group, Kimse Yok Mu, in order to dismantle an important barrier in front of the awkward social engineering project of turning this moderate Muslim nation into a bastion for ideological zealots.

World’s oldest temple closed to visitors due to excavation team links with Gülen

Gobekli Tepe, the world’s oldest temple at more than 11,000 years, has been closed to visitors for 15 months due to alleged links of the excavation team leader and sub-contractor to the faith-based Gülen movement.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Erdogan’s Journey – Conservatism and Authoritarianism in Turkey

Gulen-linked body condemns attempted Turkey coup

Turkish volunteers reach out to orphans in Nairobi

Anti-Hizmet plot no more innocent than practices of coup periods

Turkey’s Hizmet Purge Is Seeping into the UK Creating Fear in Some Communities

Deputy denies telling daily Star of Hizmet plot against him

Pillar of Society or Threat to Democracy?

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News