Turkey Issues Red Notice For Banned Leftist Militant After Appearance in Sochi

Turkey has issued a red notice for a banned leftist militant whose appearance at Sochi summit during peace talks between the Syrian regime and the opposition irritated Ankara, prompting the Turkish authorities to seek an explanation from Moscow.

Mihrac Ural, the fugitive leader of outlawed the People’s Liberation Party-Front (THKP-C), joined Sochi talks as part of the Syrian government delegation.

“We immediately reacted to this terrorist’s participation there and demanded an explanation from Russia,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told media members on Thursday.

He also expressed Turkey’s demand for the immediate extradition of Mr. Ural.

Turkish delegation, which represented the Syrian opposition groups who boycotted this week’s summit, was irked when they saw Mr. Ural attending negotiations.

The THKP-C leader fled Turkey to join the Bashar al-Assad regime in 2011 when the Syrian civil war broke out. He was accused by the Turkish authorities of orchestrating the Reyhanli bombing attack, which killed more than 50 people in 2013.

During a phone call with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan relayed Turkey’s concerns over the militant’s presence at the Sochi summit.

“We were not comfortable with this,” the Turkish foreign minister told reporters.

He said the militant entered Russia with fake documents.