Hungary has extradited Serdar Sertçelik to Turkey, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Saturday, returning a fugitive who had told a Budapest court that his life would be in danger if he were sent back.
Yerlikaya said in a post on X that Sertçelik was brought from Hungary to Turkey in a handover carried out with the participation of Turkish and Hungarian police.
Turkish media have described Sertçelik as a suspect and secret witness in a case tied to alleged Ankara organized crime figure Ayhan Bora Kaplan, a case that became politically charged after competing claims emerged about whether investigators tried to shape testimony to implicate politicians.
Yerlikaya did not provide details on when the extradition order was finalized by Hungarian authorities or where Sertçelik will be held in Turkey, but Turkish media said he is wanted on charges that include murder and membership in a criminal organization.
Sertçelik was arrested in Hungary on May 25, 2024, while attempting to enter the country with a fake passport.
Turkey had sought his return through an extradition request after he left the country despite being under house arrest and electronic monitoring, a flight that also became the subject of a separate investigation in Turkey into whether officials helped him escape.
In a July 2024 hearing Sertçelik told the Budapest court that he had “secret information” about Turkish politicians and said his life was in danger if he were returned.
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