Turkey rejects request to extradite IS suspect

SYDNEY: A Turkish court rejected Australia’s request to extradite a citizen believed to be a top recruiter for the Islamic State group, Australia’s foreign minister said, in a setback to Canberra’s efforts to prosecute him at home.

Melbourne-born Neil Prakash was linked to several Australiabased attack plans and appeared in Islamic State media content.

Australia has alleged that he actively recruited Australian men, women and children and encouraged acts of militancy.

“We are disappointed that the Kilis Criminal Court in Turkey has rejected the request to extradite Neil Prakash to Australia,” Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said in a statement yesterday.

“We will continue to engage with Turkish authorities as they consider whether to appeal the extradition decision,” she said.

Australia had been pressing Turkey to extradite Prakash since he was first detained there nearly two years ago.

Australia’s Daily Telegraph newspaper reported from Kilis that Prakash was initially ordered to be freed but was later charged under Turkish law with being an Islamic State member.

A spokesman at Turkey’s foreign ministry in Istanbul had no immediate comment and the Turkish embassy in Australia did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Ties between Turkey and its allies fighting Islamic State, particularly the United States, have been frayed by Washington’s support for the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara regards as a militant group. — Reuters